Wenatchee Clinches Season Series Against Portland Friday, Charges to 9-4 Home Win
WENATCHEE, Wash. – The Wenatchee Wild welcomed the Portland Winterhawks to Town Toyota Center on Friday with a chance to lock up the season series with their fourth win head-to-head on the year. They not only did just that, but they did it with an offense that was in rare form.
13 Wild players posted points, including defensemen Daniel Vaillant and Darian Rolsing, who locked up their first Western Hockey League goals, in a 9-4 victory. The second period was a particular outburst for Wenatchee’s offense, with five goals, including four in the span of just over six minutes that turned it from a one-goal contest into a runaway.
5:06 into the game, Aiden Grossklaus found Mathias Silaban through the right-wing faceoff circle to turn and rattle one into the top of the cage for a 1-0 lead. Six minutes later, Luka Shcherbyna added one on the penalty kill for his team-best 18th goal of the season.
That extra goal would prove to be especially pertinent – Jake Gustafson’s backdoor one-timer at 13:10 trimmed the lead to one, but Wenatchee responded with a second-chance marker from Grady Wedman. Gabriel Guilbault threw a shot wide off the end boards, but got a perfect carom on the left wing to Wedman, who hammered home the rebound from just above the goal line.
Another backdoor Winterhawks one-timer made it a 3-2 game at the break, when Ryan Miller tapped in a chance from Alex Weiermair on the rush with 2:34 remaining in the period. The Wild expanded the lead again 5:20 into the second on a shorthanded breakaway tally from Zane Saab, but Miller’s second marker of the game came on the power play 40 seconds later to cut the margin back to 4-3.
After that, Wenatchee took off – Zane Torre ripped a shot past Ondrej Stebetak 6:33 into the second, directly off a faceoff win from Wedman. At 8:08 of the period, Riley Bassen found Vaillant across the slot for a snipe from the right circle to make it a 6-3 game, and Levi Benson pitched in his first home goal for the Wild with 9:03 to go in the period. Grossklaus got into the mix with a snap from the right edge of the slot with 7:11 left in the period, pushing the Wenatchee advantage to 8-3.
Reed Brown dropped one final goal for the Winterhawks just 19 seconds later, with a turnaround chance from the left circle, sending the Wild to the dressing room with an 8-4 lead. Rolsing gave the Wild fans one more milestone with 3:02 to play, fluttering a chance to the net from the right wing that narrowly evaded Sam Elliott’s stick.
Grossklaus led all scorers with five points, a new team high for the Wild this year, while Silaban and Wedman each finished with a goal and an assist. Tobias Tvrznik turned away 30 shots to earn his 13th win of the season, and Wenatchee’s 13th win of the year at home.
Miller finished the evening with two goals for Portland, while Weiermair’s three assists led all scorers for the visitors. Portland slipped to 21-20-2-0 on the year, while Wenatchee climbed to 17-23-1-1.
Wenatchee travels to Kamloops for a date with the Blazers on Saturday evening, before coming back to welcome the Seattle Thunderbirds for Youth Sports Night on Sunday afternoon. Saturday’s game is set for a 6 p.m. puck drop, with live coverage on 1340 The Hawk and Victory+.
Tickets for Sunday’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.
Portland 2 2 0 – 4
Wenatchee 3 5 1 – 9
1st Period-1, Wenatchee, Silaban 6 (Grossklaus, Bassen), 5:06. 2, Wenatchee, Shcherbyna 18 11:06 (PS). 3, Portland, Gustafson 11 (Wilfley, Spehar), 13:10. 4, Wenatchee, Wedman 5 (Guilbault, Grossklaus), 15:47. 5, Portland, Miller 18 (Weiermair), 17:26. Penalties-Rolsing Wen (tripping), 5:33.
2nd Period-6, Wenatchee, Zane Saab 6 (Grossklaus), 5:20 (SH). 7, Portland, Miller 19 (Tsakumis, Weiermair), 6:00 (PP). 8, Wenatchee, Torre 4 (Wedman), 6:33. 9, Wenatchee, Vaillant 1 (Bassen, Caffey), 8:08. 10, Wenatchee, Benson 1 (Caffey, Tait), 10:57 (PP). 11, Wenatchee, Grossklaus 9 12:49. 12, Portland, Brown 14 (Weiermair), 13:08. Penalties-Zane Saab Wen (roughing), 2:22; Han Wen (hooking), 5:11; Weiermair Por (holding), 9:26; Darby Por (roughing, 10-minute misconduct), 13:59; Miller Por (roughing, major-fighting), 13:59; Joudrey Wen (major-fighting), 13:59; Rolsing Wen (roughing, 10-minute misconduct), 13:59; Tvrznik Wen (leaving crease), 13:59.
3rd Period-13, Wenatchee, Rolsing 1 (Grossklaus, Silaban), 16:58. Penalties-Elliott Wen (tripping), 6:53; Weiermair Por (roughing), 12:35; Bassen Wen (roughing), 18:13.
Shots on Goal-Portland 15-11-8-34. Wenatchee 10-11-11-32.
Power Play Opportunities-Portland 1 / 4; Wenatchee 1 / 2.
Goalies-Portland, Štěbeták 14-13-0-0 (18 shots-11 saves); Chase 5-5-2-0 (14 shots-12 saves). Wenatchee, Tvrznik 13-14-0-1 (34 shots-30 saves).
A-2,566
Referees-Colby Georgsen (60), Brandon Koop (23).
Linesmen-Brayden Cameron (127), Mitchell Gibbs (142).
