Wild Open 2026 Quickly, Earn 6-2 Victory Over Portland Friday
WENATCHEE, Wash. – After flipping the calendar to 2026 on Wednesday night, the Wenatchee Wild didn’t wait long on Friday to set the tone for the new calendar year.
Caelan Joudrey jimmied a pair of power play goals into the Portland Winterhawks’ net in the opening 10:26, and the Wild opened the new year with three straight goals in a 6-2 win at Town Toyota Center on Friday evening. The win was the fifth straight for the home team in the series, as the Wild dealt the Winterhawks their sixth straight loss on the road. Wenatchee climbed to 14-20-1-1 on the season, while Portland slipped to 19-17-1-0 with the loss.
Mason Kraft equaled a career high with three points, starting with a shot from the left wing that found Joudrey on the back post for the opening marker just 50 seconds into the game, and just 13 seconds into a tripping infraction on Will McLaughlin. Kraft scored the next goal for the Wild at the 2:35 mark, a snap from the left-wing dot off a cross-ice feed from Grady Wedman that made it 2-0.
Kraft found Joudrey across the top of the crease to scrape in another backdoor opportunity on the power play, making it a three-goal game just past the halfway point of the period. However, Portland carved into the lead 26 seconds later when Ryan Miller rattled home a shot from the left wing to cut the lead to 3-1 at the break.
Aiden Grossklaus’s breakaway on the penalty kill eight minutes into the second went even better than he anticipated – Grossklaus’s stick was lifted as he drove the net, but the puck continued on, wandering into the cage underneath Cruz Chase for a 4-1 Wild advantage. The Winterhawks found another response at 13:43, when Alex Weiermair wired home a shot from the edge of the slot to cut the lead back to a pair.
Portland didn’t have another response in the game – Rui Han turned and tossed a shot down the slot past Chase with 4:25 left in the period, pushing the lead back to three. Luka Shcherbyna broke free 5:46 into the third and capped the scoring, rattling a shot under the crossbar against Tyler DiCarlo, who entered the game in relief.
Wenatchee was almost perfect on special teams in the game, going 2-for-3 on the man-advantage while turning away all seven Portland power plays. Weiermair and Miller each had a goal and an assist, while Chase made 15 saves to take the loss. DiCarlo stopped four of five in his WHL debut.
Kraft picked up a goal and two assists in the game, while Joudrey enjoyed his second career multi-goal outing. Josh Toll expanded his lead in the team scoring race with two more assists, extending his point streak to five games – Shcherbyna’s goal stretched his own point streak to five games, and put him within one point of 100 for his WHL career. Tobias Tvrznik made 42 saves, notching his 10th WHL victory.
Wenatchee travels to Everett Saturday to face the WHL’s top team before visiting Portland Sunday. The opening puck drop at Angel of the Winds Arena is slated for 6:05 p.m., with live coverage on 1340 The Hawk and Victory+. The Wild will return to home ice next Friday as they welcome the Moose Jaw Warriors for their Bleed Blue game, presented by the American Red Cross.
Tickets for next Friday’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 1 1 0 – 2
Wenatchee 3 2 1 – 6
1st Period-1, Wenatchee, Joudrey 8 (Kraft, Toll), 0:50 (PP). 2, Wenatchee, Kraft 8 (Wedman, Osborne), 2:35. 3, Wenatchee, Joudrey 9 (Kraft, Toll), 10:26 (PP). 4, Portland, Miller 17 (Weiermair), 10:52. Penalties-McLaughlin Por (tripping), 0:37; Sotheran Por (holding), 10:20; Rolsing Wen (holding), 11:28.
2nd Period-5, Wenatchee, Grossklaus 8 7:59 (SH). 6, Portland, Weiermair 21 (Miller, Duguay), 13:43. 7, Wenatchee, Han 5 (Andre, Smith), 15:34. Penalties-Joudrey Wen (hooking), 6:32; Bassen Wen (checking to the head), 9:28; Brown Por (boarding), 17:22; Vaillant Wen (cross checking), 17:22; Darby Por (holding), 19:37.
3rd Period-8, Wenatchee, Shcherbyna 16 (Caffey), 5:46. Penalties-Osborne Wen (major-kneeing, game misconduct), 3:38; Weiermair Por (holding opp. stick), 4:47; Caffey Wen (10-minute misconduct), 5:46; Sotheran Por (10-minute misconduct), 6:44; Andre Wen (tripping), 7:51; Shcherbyna Wen (high sticking), 13:09.
Shots on Goal-Portland 21-13-10-44. Wenatchee 9-11-5-25.
Power Play Opportunities-Portland 0 / 7; Wenatchee 2 / 3.
Goalies-Portland, Chase 4-5-1-0 (20 shots-15 saves); DiCarlo 0-0-0-0 (5 shots-4 saves). Wenatchee, Tvrznik 10-13-0-1 (44 shots-42 saves).
A-2,577
Referees-Bryce Manders (71), Ward Pateman (124).
Linesmen-Tom Donaldson (176), Cody Wanner (56).
