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WHL Wenatchee Wild

Ward Debuts in Scoring Column as Wild Fall to Kamloops in Overtime, 4-3

January 17, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release


Wenatchee Wild's Hayden Moore battles Kamloops Blazers' Dylan Ernst
Wenatchee Wild's Hayden Moore battles Kamloops Blazers' Dylan Ernst
(Wenatchee Wild, Credit: Russ Alman/Wenatchee Wild)

WENATCHEE, Wash. - With the Wenatchee Wild down a goal and on a four-minute penalty kill, the team and the fans at Town Toyota Center needed a spark at the start of the third period Tuesday night. Right on cue, Sam Ward gave it to them.

Ward made his debut in the scoring column with a shorthanded goal, and Hayden Moore answered a Kamloops Blazers power play goal with a tying marker of his own later in the third, but Harrison Brunicke bookended his team's scoring to give the Blazers a 4-3 overtime win in Western Hockey League action. The loss was Wenatchee's first in overtime at home this season as they saw their record move to 24-14-4-0 for the year, while the Blazers bumped their mark for the season to 10-27-3-2.

Wenatchee was the first team to light the lamp, when Briley Wood forced a takeaway at the left point and fed it to Kenta Isogai at the net - Isogai walked the puck to the right post and tapped it past Dylan Ernst with 5:03 left in the first period to put the Wild in front. Brunicke tied the game with 1:45 left in the period, collecting a rink-wide pass from Jordan Keller and sending it under the crossbar from the right-wing faceoff dot.

Kamloops got its first power play of the night in the second period, and connected on its second man-advantage - Logan Bairos fed a pass to the right circle for Keller, who hammered home a one-timer for the lead with 5:49 left in the period.

The Wild went into the third period on a four-minute penalty kill, but the Wenatchee penalty-killing unit challenged the Blazers' power play and made the challenge pay off 2:33 into the third - Isogai backhanded a pass to Ward on the back post, and his one-timer tied the game at 2-2. Less than a minute later, Kamloops grabbed the lead back - with 29 seconds remaining on the double-minor, Ashton Ferster took a pass on the left goal line, and twirled around to jam the puck through Daniel Hauser and put the Blazers in front again.

Wenatchee tied the game again at 7:09 of the third, after Ashton Brown collected the long rebound from a Graham Sward shot at the left point, finding Moore for the quick toss-in at the edge of the net. However, each team got only one chance in the overtime session, and Brunicke capitalized on Kamloops's look, pulling the puck back to his forehand side before sending the winning shot into the net.

"It was kind of an up-and-down game," said assistant coach Andrew Sarauer. "The guys struggled to get going tonight, and that's not usually the case for our guys. They usually come out with a lot of energy, and we were trying to find some jam. It was a quiet game from our group, and we had to scratch and claw for everything tonight - give credit to Kamloops, they played really well."

Isogai had a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to five straight games, while Sward and Wood each posted assists to extend their streaks to six straight. Brunicke had two goals for the Blazers, while Ferster and Keller each finished with a goal and an assist. Kamloops closed the night 2-for-4 on the power play, while turning away Wenatchee's only look on the man-advantage. Hauser was tagged for the overtime loss, despite stopping 32 Blazer shots.

Wenatchee closes a seven-game homestand on Saturday with its 15th annual Guns & Hoses game, presented by Starr Ranch Growers - doors open Saturday at 3:30 p.m., followed by the annual matchup between area police and firefighters at 4:00, while the Wild and Spokane Chiefs drop the puck at 6:00. 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. Wild playoff packages and 2024-25 season tickets are now on sale as well - 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 Hayden Moore battles Kamloops Blazers' Dylan Ernst
Wenatchee Wild's Hayden Moore battles Kamloops Blazers' Dylan Ernst
(Russ Alman/Wenatchee Wild)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from January 17, 2024


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