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WHL Wenatchee Wild

Savoie's Natural Hat Trick Propels Wild to 8-6 Comeback Win at Chiefs

November 19, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release


Wenatchee Wild's Kenta Isogai, Conor Geekie, and Matt Savoie on the ice
Wenatchee Wild's Kenta Isogai, Conor Geekie, and Matt Savoie on the ice
(Wenatchee Wild, Credit: Larry Brunt/Spokane Chiefs)

SPOKANE, Wash. - The Wenatchee Wild and Spokane Chiefs will see each other eight times in Wenatchee's first season in the Western Hockey League. Saturday's first meeting between the two left quite a standard for future clashes to live up to.

For the second straight night, the Wild clawed out of a two-goal hole to pick up points in the U.S. Division standings, getting a natural hat trick from Matt Savoie in an 8-6 win at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. The game pivoted around the first intermission, with Wenatchee going into the break trailing 3-1 before posting four goals in the second period and three more in the third. The Wild did most of it with Brendan Gee in net, earning his third career win in relief after stepping in for Daniel Hauser after a first-period injury.

Connor Roulette scored on Spokane's fourth shot of the night to give Spokane a 1-0 lead five minutes into the game, and Owen Martin scraped in a second-chance goal on the power play at the 8:42 mark. Briley Wood tossed home a backside rebound off Karter Prosofsky's initial shot for a power play goal with 2:11 on the clock, but Rasmus Ekstrom's transition chance hit the back of the net with 40 seconds left in the period for a two-goal Chiefs lead at the intermission.

Wenatchee turned it on in the second period, starting with another power play goal at the 55-second mark. Conor Geekie's snipe from the right-wing circle made it 3-2, before Kenta Isogai twirled home a tying goal at 4:14. The tie lasted 18 seconds thanks to Ben Bonni's goal from the low slot, but the Wild got back-to-back goals from Savoie at 8:15 on the power play and 18:25 on the penalty kill, taking a 5-4 lead into the locker room.

Savoie finished the hat trick at 6:56 of the third, beating Cooper Michaluk low and stretching the lead to 6-4. The teams traded goals from there - Chase Bertholet's goal with 5:58 left got a response from Hayden Moore with 3:11 to go, poking the puck over the goal line after a primary chance from Ty Fraser trickled past Michaluk. Ekstrom scored a second goal at 18:09 with the extra Chiefs attacker on the ice, but Rodzers Bukarts mailed a 170-footer to the empty net for the game's final goal 22 seconds later.

"People were treated to an offensive performance, that's for sure," said Wild head coach Roy Sommer. "I thought we dominated from the get-go, and we were still down 3-1. We got a lot of good looks - (Conor) Geekie's line was outstanding tonight. I haven't been in a game like that in a long time."

Savoie added an assist to his hat trick, with Geekie posting a goal and two assists. Graham Sward notched three assists to add to his league lead among defensemen. Ekstrom had an assist to go with his two goals for Spokane, while Martin and Bertholet finished close behind with a goal and an assist each.

The Wenatchee special teams had a red-letter night, converting on three of their five power plays and wiping out three of the four for Spokane. Gee earned the win with 20 saves on 24 Spokane shots, while Hauser stopped nine of 11 in his 14 minutes of work. Michaluk took the loss, making 35 saves. The Wild climbed to 13-8-2-0 with the win, while Spokane dropped below .500 for the year at 7-8-2-0.

Wenatchee returns home Sunday for Mom & Son Night, presented by Keyhole Security, and a 4 p.m. contest against the Prince Albert Raiders. Sunday's game is also the first in Wenatchee's Fred Meyer Sunday Funday promotion for this season. Tickets for that game and all home regular-season contests are on sale now at 509-888-7825, 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.

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Images from this story

Wenatchee Wild's Kenta Isogai, Conor Geekie, and Matt Savoie on the ice
Wenatchee Wild's Kenta Isogai, Conor Geekie, and Matt Savoie on the ice
(Larry Brunt/Spokane Chiefs)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from November 19, 2023


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