McHugh Scores Two Goals in Wenatchee Win
March 23, 2013 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release
WENATCHEE, Wash. - Max McHugh (Edgewood, Wash.) scored a pair of goals to help lead the Wenatchee Wild to a 5-1 victory Friday over the Fresno Monsters before 3,577 fans at the Town Toyota Center.
The Wild came out of the gate playing at a fast pace, but had nothing to show for their efforts after 20 minutes of play. The Wild took 17 shots in the first frame compared to Fresno's four shots. They also had two power play chances that produced multiple quality scoring chances and rang two shots off the post.
The Wild continued to work hard in the second period and were rewarded for their efforts with three goals. Jacob Barber (Dardenne Prairie, Mo.) broke a scoreless tie two minutes into the second period when he cleaned up a rebound that had trickled behind netminder Tomas Sholl. Nicholas Kuchera (Eagan, Minn.) and Evan Schmidbauer (Surrey, British Columbia) assisted.
"I thought we played well," said Wenatchee Wild head coach Bliss Littler. "I really don't think it's a lot different than how we have been playing. We didn't give up many chances."
Max McHugh (Edgewood, Wash.) put the Wild up by a pair of goals with 6:10 left in the second period. McHugh earned the goal when he peeled the puck off the boards, outmuscling two defenders, and scored on a wrister from the inside corner of the far faceoff circle. Chris Kerr (Penticton, British Columbia) earned the lone assist.
Wenatchee claimed a 3-0 lead with just 1:12 left in the second period when Noah Nelson (Oconomowoc, Wis.) notched a deflating short-handed goal on a top-shelf shot off of Jono Davis' (La Verne, Calif.) drop pass.
The Monsters got back into the game briefly early in the third stanza on an even-strength goal by Matt Salituro that was assisted by Justin Plate and Trevor Husch. It was the only goal the Monsters would be able to muster.
McHugh posted his second goal of the game with a little less than 13 minutes left in regulation when he scored from the slot on a rebound. Martin Keckes and Kerr assisted. Nathan Flynn (Hastings, Minn.) scored Wenatchee's fifth and final goal of the contest with 25 seconds left in regulation when he took care of a loose puck that squirted in front of the net. Kuchera and Brian Williams (San Diego, Calif.) picked up the assists.
McHugh led the Wild with two goals while Kuchera and Kerr each recorded two assists.
Wild goalie Robert Nichols (Dallas, Texas) made 14 saves on 15 shots to earn his 30th win of the season. Sholl denied 38 of Wenatchee's 43 shots. Both teams went 0-for-4 on the power play.
The Wild (37-14-6) will try to sweep the Monsters Saturday in the last regular season home game of the 2012-13. Faceoff is set for 7:05 p.m.
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