Wild Nearly Complete Four-Goal Comeback in 5-3 Loss at Portland Sunday
PORTLAND, Ore. – At the end of a four-game week, with seven impact players out of the lineup, the Wenatchee Wild found themselves down 4-0 midway through the third period of Sunday’s Western Hockey League game at the Portland Winterhawks.
To nobody’s surprise, instead of folding up the tent, they hopped on the power play and got to work.
Blake Vanek scored two goals on the man-advantage and Mathias Silaban rippled the net for his second goal in three games, but an empty-net goal from Alex Weiermair with 61 seconds left sealed a 5-3 Winterhawks victory at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Wild battled both road games at Portland this weekend to 4-3 scores before late Portland goals sealed their wins. The Winterhawks won their third straight to get to 12-10-0-0 on the year, while Wenatchee moved to 6-11-1-1 with the loss.
The Winterhawks grabbed the lead just 81 seconds into the game when Nathan Free threw a wrist shot down the slot that sneaked through Tobias Tvrznik. Jake Gustafson added to the lead with a power play goal at 7:10 of the period, and Portland took a 2-0 lead to the dressing room.
The Wild and Winterhawks went nearly two full periods without scoring, but Portland added to its lead at 3:49 of the third, when Jordan Duguay wristed a shot from the edge of the slot to the back of the net for a 3-0 advantage. Kyle McDonough’s swing from the left wing at 9:42 of the third was interrupted partway along, but the puck wandered off his stick and underneath Tvrznik, stretching the lead to four.
Vanek’s first goal with 8:24 to go was intended to be a backdoor pass along the goal line, but skittered in off of Cruz Chase, putting the Wild on the board for the first time. After taking a pass from Luka Shcherbyna, Silaban ran down the left wing and snapped a wrist shot in transition from just inside the faceoff circle 54 seconds later, giving the Wild life in a 4-2 game.
Vanek got his second goal by swatting home a chance in front of the Winterhawks net with 3:21 to play and just 10 seconds left on a Wenatchee power play, but Weiermair slid a sharp-angle opportunity into an empty Wild cage to seal the win.
Shcherbyna and Vanek had two points apiece, and Wenatchee closed the night at 2-for-5 on the power play and 5-for-6 on the penalty kill. Tvrznik made 36 saves in the loss, while Chase stopped 33 Wenatchee shots to earn his first WHL victory. Weiermair had a goal and an assist to lead the Winterhawks offense.
Saturday, the Wild visit the Kamloops Blazers to finish a stretch of four out of five on the road, with the opening puck drop at Sandman Centre scheduled for 6 p.m. Live coverage is available on Newsradio 560 KPQ and on Victory+. Wenatchee returns to home ice on Thanksgiving Eve for its Wild Wednesday promotion against the Vancouver Giants, presented by Plumb Perfect.
Tickets for next Wednesday’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.
Wenatchee 0 0 3 – 3
Portland 2 0 3 – 5
1st Period-1, Portland, Free 12 (Weiermair), 1:21. 2, Portland, Gustafson 6 (Brown, McLaughlin), 7:10 (PP). Penalties-Andre Wen (holding), 5:32; Vanek Wen (high-sticking), 10:14; Joudrey Wen (tripping), 18:18.
2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Pšenička Por (interference), 5:34; Duguay Por (hooking), 7:21; Torre Wen (high sticking), 10:59; Shcherbyna Wen (roughing), 13:42; Domenichelli Por (roughing), 13:42; Gustafson Por (roughing), 17:54.
3rd Period-3, Portland, Duguay 8 (Miller), 3:49. 4, Portland, McDonough 2 (Domenichelli, Spehar), 9:42. 5, Wenatchee, Vanek 4 (Toll), 11:36 (PP). 6, Wenatchee, Silaban 2 12:30. 7, Wenatchee, Vanek 5 (Joudrey, Shcherbyna), 16:39 (PP). 8, Portland, Weiermair 12 (Brown), 18:59 (EN). Penalties-Tait Wen (major-fighting), 2:18; Gustafson Por (major-fighting), 2:18; Joudrey Wen (interference), 6:18; Zulinick Por (delay of game), 11:27; Slobodian Por (slashing), 14:48.
Shots on Goal-Wenatchee 7-12-17-36. Portland 11-18-12-41.
Power Play Opportunities-Wenatchee 2 / 5; Portland 1 / 6.
Goalies-Wenatchee, Tvrznik 5-7-0-1 (40 shots-36 saves). Portland, Chase 1-1-0-0 (36 shots-33 saves).
A-3,485
Referees-Stephen Campbell (14), Jake Podann (8).
Linesmen-Tanner Hoffman (122), Toby Wolfe (178).
