Wild Tie On Three Occasions, But Fall to Kelowna Wednesday, 5-4 in Overtime
Photo Courtesy: Russ Alman/Wenatchee Wild
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WENATCHEE, Wash. – Three times on Wednesday night, the Wenatchee Wild got the game-tying goal that they wanted. Unfortunately, they never got the go-ahead goal that they needed.
The Wild used two goals from Briley Wood and Miles Cooper 36 seconds apart to tie the game in the second period, and a second-chance goal from Luka Shcherbyna late in the third to tie it again, but Marek Rocak darted to the net for the winner at 1:57 of overtime, sending the Kelowna Rockets to a 5-4 win in a midweek Western Hockey League get-together. Despite the loss, the Wild extended their string to seven consecutive games with at least one point in the standings. The home team has won all three games in the head-to-head series this year, with one more Wenatchee home meeting on January 6.
Andrew Cristall put Kelowna ahead before the crowd was fully settled in, tucking the puck around the post and Brendan Gee 47 seconds out of the gate. Dawson Seitz scored the first equalizer 9:15 into the game, twirling a turnaround shot into the top of the Kelowna net to even up the game at 1-1. Ethan Neutens scored twice in quick succession to make it a 3-1 game, stuffing in a goal off a faceoff in the Wenatchee zone with 1:15 left in the first period, and throwing one in from the right edge of the slot 1:09 into the second.
Wenatchee got those two goals back even more quickly – Wood put away a second chance to get the Wild back within one with 9:16 remaining in the second period, just seven seconds into their only power play of the night, and Cooper erased the rest of the Rockets’ lead with a shot to the top of the Kelowna cage with 8:40 showing on the clock.
The final response for the Wild came quickly as well – Gabriel Szturc’s goal from the edge of the slot with 7:10 left in regulation got an answer from Shcherbyna, who collected his own rebound after a 65-foot shot and tossed it to the top shelf with 5:20 remaining. That goal forced the game to overtime, but Rocak closed out the night by splitting the defense and rattling the puck into the top corner of the net with 3:03 remaining in overtime.
“I thought in the first period, we were on our heels a bit,” said assistant coach Andrew Sarauer. “It’s never easy getting scored on the first shift of a game on the road. The second and third periods, we got going and created more opportunities from our forecheck and being hard on pucks. I really liked how the guys found a way to tie it up late and come out with a point.”
Wood had Wenatchee’s only multi-point game, with a goal and an assist, while Gee saw his four-game winning streak snapped in a 24-save effort. The Wild were perfect on special teams, spending just seven seconds on their only power play of the night while killing off all three Kelowna chances. Four Rockets finished with more than one point, led by Neutens’s two goals, as Jari Kykkanen picked up his ninth win of the season behind 30 stops.
Wenatchee’s Teddy Bear Toss against the Portland Winterhawks, presented by Fred Meyer, is up next on the home schedule on Friday, with the opening puck drop in Wenatchee scheduled for 7 p.m. 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.
Wenatchee 1 2 1 0 – 4
Kelowna 2 1 1 1 – 5
1st Period-1, Kelowna, Cristall 14 (Price, Szturc), 0:47. 2, Wenatchee, Dawson Seitz 2 (Savoie, Isogai), 9:15. 3, Kelowna, Neutens 3 18:45. Penalties-Bukarts Wen (tripping), 5:56.
2nd Period-4, Kelowna, Neutens 4 (Cicek), 1:09. 5, Wenatchee, Wood 10 (Geekie, Sward), 10:44 (PP). 6, Wenatchee, Cooper 8 (Wood), 11:20. Penalties-Babcock Kel (tripping), 10:37; Fraser Wen (boarding), 13:42; Arp Wen (roughing), 18:07; Graham Kel (roughing), 18:07.
3rd Period-7, Kelowna, Szturc 11 (Iginla, Cristall), 12:50. 8, Wenatchee, Shcherbyna 3 (Bambrick, Young), 14:40. Penalties-Moore Wen (hooking), 3:22.
OT Period-9, Kelowna, Rocak 4 (Graham, Iginla), 1:57. Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Wenatchee 10-13-11-0-34. Kelowna 8-8-9-4-29.
Power Play Opportunities-Wenatchee 1 / 1; Kelowna 0 / 3.
Goalies-Wenatchee, Gee 6-2-1-0 (29 shots-24 saves). Kelowna, Kykkanen 9-6-0-0 (34 shots-30 saves).
A-3,818
Referees-Brad Lebus (52), Ward Pateman (124).
Linesmen-Dustin Minty (86), Cody Wanner (56).
