Wenatchee Claims Second Place in West Division
February 5, 2011 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release
WENATCHEE, Wash. - Team captain D.J. Vandercook (Farmington Hills, Mich.) lifted the Wenatchee Wild into second place in the West Division when he notched the only goal in a shootout Friday night at the Town Toyota Center to give the Wild a 4-3 victory over the Alaska Avalanche.
Zach Smith put the Avalanche up 8:38 into the contest when he scored a shorthanded breakaway goal on his backhand. The Wild tied up the contest with 98 seconds remaining in the first stanza when Ben Carey (Centennial, Colo.) lit the lamp on a rebound off of Michael Di Puma's (Chicago, Ill.) shot. However, forward Wehebe Darge sent the Avalanche to the locker room for the first intermission with a 2-1 lead after he scored on his backhand on a rebound right in front of the Wild cage.
Di Puma figured in on his second goal of the night at the 8:30 into the second frame to force a 2-2 tie when he scored top shelf from the bottom of the far circle on a rebound off of Kyle Huson's (Parker, Colo.) shot.
The score remained tied, 2-2, until the 4:59 mark of the third frame when Carl-Johan Sjogren (Tumba, Sweden) scored from the slot on a bang-bang play from Vandercook. Wenatchee held the lead until former Wild forward Eliot Grauer forced overtime when he banged in the equalizer from right in front of the net with three seconds remaining in regulation.
After a scoreless overtime session, Vandercook, the Wild's final participant in the shootout, beat Avalanche netminder Landon Peterson stick side with a wicked shot from between the circles.
Brandon Jaeger (Champlin, Minn.), who refused to give up a goal in the shootout, played a very strong game. Jaeger made 25 saves on 28 shots to earn his 18th win of the season. Peterson made 30 saves on 33 shots. The Wild scored one power play goal on six chances while Alaska failed to score on its only man-advantage of the game.
Di Puma led the Wild with a goal and an assist. For Alaska, Smith scored a goal and added an assist while Daniel Senkbeil recorded two assists.
The Wild (25-15-3) will try to sweep the Avalanche on Saturday. The game will begin at 7:05 p.m.
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