December 28, 2025 – Margaritaville Night

After snaring a win on the road last night, the Wild return to the TTC looking for a weekend sweep of an in-state rival.

THE SCENE-SETTER:

A handful of early-period goals, including a third-period table-turning, and a Wenatchee debut highlighted a 5-4 Wild victory Saturday at Numerica Veterans Arena. Riley Bassen made his WHL debut with a goal and an assist, with the latter coming on his opening shift, 59 seconds in – Bassen tossed the puck off Carter Esler’s pads and Blake Vanek punched in the second chance for the early lead. Spokane erased it with a rebound goal on the doorstep from Chase Harrington at 12:52, but Wenatchee regained the lead at 3:02 of the second on Zane Torre’s goal from a Grady Wedman pass. The Chiefs tied the game at 6:05 of the period when Coco Armstrong shoveled the puck past Cal Conway, and Logan Wormald scored 2-on-1 to take the lead just past the game’s halfway point. Wenatchee’s final three goals came in quick succession in the third – Bassen caromed in his first WHL goal at the side of the net just 42 seconds in, Nolan Caffey pitched a shot under the bar a minute-and-a-half into the period, and Mason Kraft finished a 2-on-1 break with Luka Shcherbyna at the 2:21 mark. Spokane got one goal with the extra attacker, a redirect from Armstrong off a Wormald shot with 2:22 to play. Conway earned his fourth win with 34 saves, and Vanek also finished with a goal and an assist, as the Wild earned their third road win of the year. The penalty-killing units were perfect, combining for eight kills.

KNOW YOUR FOE:

Spokane enjoyed a 10-day stoppage, pouncing on the Portland Winterhawks for a 9-2 win last Tuesday in their final outing before the holidays. The Chiefs scored eight goals in the first two periods, and Owen Martin scored two goals in the opening 14 minutes to get the hosts off to a fast start. Mathis Preston scored back-to-back goals eight minutes apart in the second period to add on to a 4-1 lead at the first intermission, while Logan Wormald and Tristen Buckley hit the back of the net to push the lead to seven at the second-period break. Tyson Yaremko and Chase Harrington exchanged goals in the third with the game already out of reach. Preston tied a career high with four points, his ninth career multi-point game, and was named the league’s Player of the Week on the basis of last Tuesday’s game. The Chiefs have been nothing if not consistent, regardless of where they play, coming out of the mathematical first half at 9-9 at home, and 8-8 on the road.

LET’S CHECK THE LEADERBOARD:

The Wild have several players on league leaderboards as they return home from the holidays. Josh Toll has been one of the WHL’s best first-year players at making opposing defenses pay, registering 23 assists thus far – no rookie defenseman went into Christmas with more helpers than Toll. Bryce Pickford (Medicine Hat) is the only other defenseman in the league currently leading his team in scoring. Tobias Tvrznik was busy in the first half, with his .919 save percentage sitting third in the league. His 672 saves ranked second coming out of the break.

WELCOME TO WENATCHEE:

Wenatchee made a pair of additions at the recess, welcoming Texas native Riley Bassen from the NCAA Division I program at Merrimack College – Bassen brings three years of USHL experience to the Wild, playing 149 games for the Cedar Rapids Roughriders and Fargo Force. Daniel Vaillant joined the program full-time after two-and-a-half years with Airdrie in the Alberta Elite Hockey League. With a short lineup due to illness coming out of the break, defenseman Kolton Denich also made his WHL debut Saturday at Spokane.

WE’RE “SLO” PROUD OF YOU:

Defenseman Michal Capos is absent to take part in Slovakia’s turn at the World Junior Championships in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Capos is one of eight defensemen and three WHL players on the final roster. The Slovakian contingent dropped its first game at the tournament Thursday, 3-2 against the Swedes before defeating Germany Saturday morning, 4-1. Two more pool-play games remain before an anticipated quarterfinal tilt on Friday against a to-be-determined opponent.