Wild Head Into Holiday Break With 6-1 Win Over Everett, Spoil Silvertips’ First-Ever Visit
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WENATCHEE, Wash. – One more slow start Friday against the Prince George Cougars was one too many for the Wenatchee Wild. Sunday evening, in their final game before the Christmas break, the Wild went out in front of more than 3,200 fans at Town Toyota Center and did something about it.
Two days after surrendering three first-period goals to the Cougars, the opening stanza yielded three goals for the Wild, propelling them to a 6-1 win over the Everett Silvertips, who reclaimed first place in the Western Hockey League’s U.S. Division in the process. Wenatchee opened all three periods with a goal within the first two minutes, and picked up a career night from Briley Wood with his first WHL hat trick and four-point game.
It was Hayden Moore who opened the scoring for Wenatchee just 1:38 into the contest, stuffing a second chance into Ethan Chadwick’s net for a 1-0 Wild lead. Wood picked up a similar goal on the power play at 8:09 of the game, scoring a rebound marker on the forehand to give the hosts a 2-0 advantage. Wood’s second goal at 11:48 included some help from a redirect off an Everett defender at the net.
The Silvertips weren’t about to let the period go by without a response, though, as Julius Miettinen played the puck off of a defender in front of Wild goaltender Daniel Hauser and popped it into the cage to cut the lead to 3-1 at the intermission.
The second and third periods started in much the same fashion as the first – Kenta Isogai beat a challenge from two Everett defenders in front of the goal just 59 seconds out of the first intermission for a 4-1 lead, and Luka Shcherbyna banged in a rebound off of a shot from Moore at 1:11 of the third. Wood finished off the hat trick with a forehand to the top corner of the cage, dragging the puck around a defender before firing it home with 3:54 remaining in the contest.
“We’re missing five regulars from our lineup at the moment, so the younger guys again were stepping up and playing some minutes,” said Wild assistant coach Andrew Sarauer. “We’re just looking for guys to step up each night. When you’re losing a lot of guys like that, you need to focus on changing the way you play – we’re not going to get those two or three goals from [Conor Geekie] and [Matt Savoie] every night, which is fine. These guys can grind wins and get two points other ways.”
Hauser closed the night with 35 saves, earning his 12th win of the season and 90th in his WHL career. Wood’s four-point outing highlighted the Wild effort, while Isogai added a goal and an assist to his haul as well. Graham Sward notched a pair of assists to extend his point streak to 10 games, the team’s longest active streak and second-longest so far on the season.
The Wild were excellent on special teams as well, killing off nine of the 10 Everett power plays in the game and scoring on one of their four, improving to 21-11-3-0 for the season. Chadwick made 25 saves in the loss as the Silvertips slipped to 21-13-1-1. Wenatchee also regained the top spot in the U.S. Division, jumping a point ahead with a game in hand at the top of the division ladder.
The return to the ice for the Wild will see them make a brief visit to Spokane on Wednesday, December 27 for a 7:05 p.m. bout against the Chiefs. Wenatchee gets back on home ice the following night with a 6 p.m. puck drop against the Victoria Royals. Tickets for that game and all home regular-season contests are on sale now 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, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
Everett 1 0 0 – 1
Wenatchee 3 1 2 – 6
1st Period-1, Wenatchee, Moore 6 (Cooper, Young), 1:38. 2, Wenatchee, Wood 13 (Sward, Friesen), 8:07 (PP). 3, Wenatchee, Wood 14 (Sward, Isogai), 11:48. 4, Everett, Miettinen 12 (Gibson, Hemmerling), 15:38 (PP). Penalties-Jamieson Evt (interference), 7:08; Bambrick Wen (kneeing), 8:58; Hemmerling Evt (closing hand on puck), 12:49; Isogai Wen (tripping), 14:03; Friesen Wen (roughing), 17:04.
2nd Period-5, Wenatchee, Isogai 17 (Wood, Hauser), 0:58. Penalties-Moore Wen (slashing), 5:59; Pankey Wen (slashing), 8:33; Hemmerling Evt (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 9:07; Petruk Evt (checking from behind), 12:35; Sward Wen (roughing), 12:45; Arp Wen (tripping), 17:01.
3rd Period-6, Wenatchee, Shcherbyna 7 (Cooper), 1:11. 7, Wenatchee, Wood 15 (Isogai, Friesen), 16:06. Penalties-Shcherbyna Wen (holding), 4:47; Cooper Wen (roughing), 9:06; Moore Wen (delay of game), 11:23.
Shots on Goal-Everett 13-11-12-36. Wenatchee 14-12-5-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Everett 1 / 10; Wenatchee 1 / 4.
Goalies-Everett, Chadwick 8-7-0-0 (31 shots-25 saves). Wenatchee, Hauser 12-8-2-0 (36 shots-35 saves).
A-3,212
Referees-Matthew Hicketts (18), Ward Pateman (124).
Linesmen-Dustin Minty (86), Cody Wanner (56).
