February 6, 2026 – Diaper Toss

🧷 Diaper Toss – bring diapers & wipes to the game, and throw them onto the ice when the Wild score their first goal (donations benefit the Women’s Service League of NCW)

 KIDS IN FREE – 100 free kids’ tickets available thanks to Riverside Payments!

IN A NUTSHELL:

The Wild welcome Victoria for the first of their three get-togethers this month.

 

THE SCENE-SETTER:

Wenatchee battled throughout last Saturday’s game against the Tri-City Americans, but faced one too many Ams power plays in a 3-2 overtime loss at Toyota Center in Kennewick. Luka Shcherbyna opened the scoring 3:55 in, just off the slot following a faceoff win from Caelan Joudrey and a setup pass from Mason Kraft. After going to the break down 1-0, the Ams tied the game on a power play goal from Savin Virk 78 seconds into the second period, and took the lead on a wraparound from Cruz Pavao with 9:04 to go in the period. Levi Benson tied the game on the power play with 7:49 to play, walking the puck to the front of the net and tossing it past Ryan Grout for a Wild power play marker. A Wenatchee penalty at 1:35 of the overtime period sent Tri-City to the power play one final time, and Grady Martin jammed a chance in underneath Tobias Tvrznik with 2:19 left in the extra session to close out the night. Martin and Virk each picked up a goal and an assist, and Tri-City finished 2-for-6 on the power play, while Wenatchee went 1-for-3. Grout nabbed his eighth win of the season behind 25 saves, and Tvrznik took the loss with 30 saves on 33 Ams chances.

 

KNOW YOUR FOE:

Victoria comes to Wenatchee amid a busy week, following a home split against the Kamloops Blazers on Tuesday and Wednesday – after taking an 11-1 thumping against the Royals on Tuesday, the Royals bounced back with a 4-1 win Wednesday behind multi-point games from Eli McKamey and Ludovic Perreault. McKamey and Odin Vauhkonen scored in the first period before Ty Coupland broke up the early shutout bid with 1:52 showing on the clock. Perreault potted his goal with 4:15 off the time in the second, and Ashton Brown buried an empty-netter with 1:42 to play in the third. Ethan Eskit made 19 saves in the win, as Victoria out-shot their visitors 35-20, while the two squads combined for a perfect 6-for-6 night on the kill. The Royals are nine points ahead of the Wild in the final Western Conference playoff spot, and have done it with the league’s top goaltending workhorse in Ethan Eskit, who leads the league in minutes played. Power play opportunities are fewer and further between against the Royals as well – only Kamloops has logged fewer penalty minutes than the Royals.

 

PUTTING IN THE EXTRA HOURS:

Wenatchee put in some extra time on the ice in January, taking six games to overtime with three wins. It’s the most overtime games in a single month for the WHL club since the Kootenay ICE went to the extra period in six games in October of 2018 – that group also won three of the six. Last year’s team went to overtime five times in a six-game stretch in February, followed by another one March 1.

 

REMEMBER WHEN…:

This is the first battle between Wenatchee and Victoria since October 3, when the Wild erased a two-goal lead in the third period, but were forced to settle for a 5-4 loss on Hayden Moore’s goal 82 seconds into overtime. Boston Tait highlighted the action with a pair of assists, while Caelan Joudrey and Luka Shcherbyna each notched goals – it was Wenatchee’s only loss this season when scoring four or more goals. A total of three games between the Wild and Royals are slated for February, with two more set for February 20 and 21 in Victoria.

 

STRIKE ONE:

The Wild have shown up ready to play in recent times, scoring the first goal in three of their last four games and four of their last six. Oddly enough, the only win in Wenatchee’s last seven outings came in come-from-behind fashion, erasing a two-goal deficit in the third period of last Friday’s 3-2 overtime triumph at Portland.

 

THE BEST DEFENSE IS A GOOD OFFENSE:

Josh Toll tacked four assists on to his total last weekend at Portland and Tri-City, climbing to 36 points and maintaining his five-point team scoring lead. He is one of two defensemen leaguewide (Daxon Rudolph, Prince Albert) to lead his team in scoring, thanks to his seven multi-point games.