Conway Earns First WHL Win, Stops 36 as Wild Stop Division-Leading Cougars, 2-1
WENATCHEE, Wash. – The Wenatchee Wild saved their best yet for the biggest weekend of their season so far.
Cal Conway turned away 36 Prince George shots, while Aiden Grossklaus and Zane Saab set each other up for second-period goals two-and-a-half minutes apart, and the Wild sent the B.C. Division-leading Cougars home with a 2-1 loss Saturday on Wenatchee’s Military Appreciation Night at Town Toyota Center. More than 3,400 fans saw Wenatchee upend its second division-leading foe in as many weeks, with the players’ families also in town to celebrate the team’s annual Family Weekend.
The two clubs traded their share of shots throughout the first period, but it took more than half the game for either goaltender to yield – with 7:05 to go in the second period, Grossklaus’s wrist shot from the right-wing hash marks clipped Saab in front of the net and trickled past Prince George netminder Joshua Ravensbergen for a 1-0 lead. At 4:34, Saab pivoted from below the goal line and swung a pass out into the slot for Grossklaus to snipe into the top of the cage, doubling the lead.
Time and again, Conway stepped up in the big moments to deny the Cougars, but Prince George did break through on the power play with 9:26 to play. Conway’s stick was knocked from his hands while tumbling to his left to make a save, and was caught without it when Aiden Foster tipped Bauer Dumanski’s one-timer, fired from the right faceoff circle off a setup pass from Arsenii Anisimov.
The win was Conway’s first in the Western Hockey League, while Ravensbergen took the hard-luck loss behind 38 saves of his own. A potent Prince George special-teams unit finished 4-for-5, including a perfect 3-for-3 tally on the penalty kill. Grossklaus and Saab each took home a goal and an assist for their efforts, though Josh Toll saw a team-best four-game point streak come to an end.
Saturday’s affair ended a five-game homestand for the Wild, the team’s longest of the season, with wins in three of the five and back-to-back wins for the first time this year. Wenatchee climbed to 5-8-1-1 with the win, while Prince George slipped to 11-7-0-0 for the year.
The Wild head on the road for four of their next five, starting on Tuesday night – next on the docket for the team is a visit to the Seattle Thunderbirds on Veterans’ Day, with a Tuesday night puck drop at Accesso Showare Center scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Live coverage of Tuesday’s game is available on Newsradio 560 KPQ and Victory+. A road game at Portland follows on Friday before the Wild make a brief return to home ice next Saturday against the Prince Albert Raiders.
Tickets for next Saturday’s game and all regular-season Wild home games are on sale now by phone at 509-888-7825, online here or by visiting the team office at Town Toyota Center. Updated news and information on Wild hockey are always available through the team’s website and on the team’s social media platforms on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.
Prince George 0 0 1 – 1
Wenatchee 0 2 0 – 2
1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Lajoie Pg (roughing), 9:58; Fluker Wen (roughing), 9:58.
2nd Period-1, Wenatchee, Zane Saab 5 (GROHS-closs, Fluker), 12:55. 2, Wenatchee, GROHS-closs 4 (Zane Saab, Dawson Seitz), 15:26. Penalties-Foster Pg (cross checking), 1:54; Foster Pg (roughing), 18:25; Lajoie Pg (roughing), 18:25; McCagherty Wen (roughing), 18:25.
3rd Period-3, Prince George, Foster 5 (Dumanski, Anisimov), 10:34 (PP). Penalties-Kraft Wen (slashing), 1:43; Sopiarz Pg (roughing), 7:14; Osborne Wen (interference), 8:48.
Shots on Goal-Prince George 11-12-14-37. Wenatchee 13-17-10-40.
Power Play Opportunities-Prince George 1 / 2; Wenatchee 0 / 3.
Goalies-Prince George, Ravensbergen 8-6-0-0 (40 shots-38 saves). Wenatchee, Conway 1-3-1-0 (37 shots-36 saves).
A-3,411
Referees-Josh Albinati (25), Mike Langin (67).
Linesmen-Tom Donaldson (176), Jaxson Pollon (150).
