Wenatchee Wild Series Preview Notes V. Kenai River Brown Bears
November 18, 2010 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release
Wenatchee Wild at Kenai River Brown Bears (Soldotna Sports Center)
Friday, Nov. 19 - 8:30 p.m. (PST)
Saturday, Nov. 20 - 8:30 p.m. (PST)
Wild Last Series
The Wild is coming off a pair of 1-goal losses to the Alaska Avalanche on Tuesday and Wednesday. Alaska rallied to win the first game, 3-2, then won the second game, 2-1.
Game 1 - The Wild had a 2-goal lead heading into the second period on goals by D.J. Vandercook (Farmington Hills, Mich.) and Max McHugh (Edgewood, Wash.). However, Alaska rallied for three unanswered power-play goals to win, 3-2.
Game 2 - Ben Carey's (Centennial, Colo.) third-period goal cut the Avalanche's lead to 2-1, but the Wild could not tie up the contest down the stretch.
Brown Bears Last Series
Kenai River won one game of a 3-game series against the Alaska Avalanche last week. Alaska won the first two games of the series, 6-3 and 4-3, respectively. Kenai River won the third game, 5-0.
Game 1 - The Brown Bears led 3-1 heading into the third period on goals by Brad Duwe, Sean Muller and Ryan Walker. However, Alaska scored five unanswered goals in the third period to defeat Kenai River, 6-3.
Game 2 - Tied 3-3 after 40 minutes of play, Tyler Briola's go-ahead goal late in the third period lifted the Avalanche to a 4-3 victory.
Game 3 - The Brown Bears dominated the Avalanche, 5-0. Doug Beck scored two of Kenai River's goals.
Wild Looks to Regroup Against Brown Bears
Four games, one win. The Wild's 6-game Alaskan road trip hasn't gone exactly as planned.
But now is not the time to hit the panic button. Don't cancel Thanksgiving, either.
Instead, circle the wagons and put your best effort forward in an attempt to finish the road trip with a .500 record.
That's the Wild's stance moving forward.
"We are going through a little short-term adversity and that will reap dividends in the long term," said Wild third-year coach Paul Baxter.
The Wild's tough stretch began with a 3-1 loss to Fairbanks on Saturday after Vandercook gave his team a 1-0 lead 38 seconds into the contest.
Then, against Alaska on Tuesday, Vandercook and McHugh gave the Wild a 2-goal lead heading into the second period. However, Alaska rallied for three unanswered power-play goals for a 3-2 win.
On Wednesday, Alaska jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Carey's third-period goal cut the lead in half, but the Wild couldn't force overtime.
"This team has high character and will learn from it and respond properly," Baxter said. "Real team-building happens during tough stretches."
In spite of its 3-game losing streak, the Wild is still in a tie for first place in the West Division. Along with the Avalanche and Ice Dogs, the Wild is in a 3-way logjam for the top spot in the West Division standings with 26 points apiece.
Right behind the division leaders are the Kenai River Brown Bears, who possess 24 points.
The Wild swept a 2-game series from the Brown Bears at the Town Toyota Center in September.
Wenatchee scored four power-play goals on 13 chances in that series and limited Kenai River to one power-play goal on 14 opportunities.
That's good news for Wenatchee, which has struggled on special teams recently. The Wild are 0-for-15 on the power play in its last three games and have allowed the opposition four power-play goals.
"We are holding the puck a little long as well as not taking the extra space to create better situations," Baxter said, diagnosing the Wild's recent power-play issues. "It has to be more instinctive and more precise from an execution standpoint.
"We are generating chances, but not as many nor as quality as earlier."
Wild v. Brown Bears
This is the second series of the 2010-11 season between the Wild and Brown Bears.
Wenatchee swept a 2-game series from Kenai River at the Town Toyota Center on Sept. 24-25. The Wild won the first game of the series, 4-1, and the second game, 5-4.
Shawn Pauly (Bellingham, Wash.) led the Wild with three goals last series. Michael Di Puma (Chicago, Ill.) was plus-2 and recorded three points (2G, 1A). Tyler Hope (McKinney, Texas) also recorded three points (3A). Jaeger and Marcus Zelzer (Bay, Wis.) each earned a win in the last series.
Muller (2G, 2A) and Connor Wright (1G, 3A) each notched four points for the Brown Bears in the 2-game series in September. They were also both plus-4.
Coming up Next
Wenatchee returns home from its 6-game road trip in Alaska for a 2-game series against the Chicago Hitmen at the Town Toyota Center next weekend (Nov. 26-27). Both games will begin at 7:05 p.m.
The Wild will wear special jerseys during their next home series against the Chicago Hitmen as part of the Third Annual Washington Apple Education Foundation Night. Fans will have the opportunity to bid on the jerseys with proceeds benefiting the Washington Apple Education Foundation.
Fans can purchase tickets at the Town Toyota Center box office, by calling 1-888-7825 or by logging on to www.wenatcheewild.com.
Records
Wild: 13-9-0 - 26 points, .591 WPCT, T-1st place in West
Brown Bears: 11-10-2 - 24 points, .522 WPCT, 2nd place in West
Johnson Returns to Lineup
Wild captain Eric Johnson (Madison, Wis.) returned to the lineup against the Avalanche after missing two games with an illness. Johnson, who is committed to the University of Notre Dame in the fall of 2011, has two assists and is plus-6 in 15 games with the Wild this season.
McHugh's First NAHL Goal
Injuries to forwards Carl-Johan Sjogren (Sodertalje, Sweden), Jordan Allan (West Richland, Wash.) and Matt Cope (Lafayette, Colo.) opened the door for the Wild U18 team's top points-getter, 17-year-old McHugh, to get some NAHL ice time. McHugh responded with a goal in his fourth game with the team. The goal gave the Wild a 2-0 lead over Alaska on Tuesday night. Unfortunately, Alaska came back to win the game, 3-2. The U18 team's second leading scorer, Trevor Stewart (Wenatchee, Wash.), was also in the lineup for the Wild in both games against the Avalanche.
Top Scoring Threats
Wild: Frye leads the Wild with 17 points (5G, 12A). Grauer (9G, 7A) and Rumble (5G, 11A) each have 16 points apiece on the season.
Brown Bears: Doug Beck, who is plus-8, leads his team with 24 points (13G, 11A). Brett Lubanski is right behind Beck with 23 points (4G, 19A). In addition, seven other Brown Bears have 10 points or more.
Special Teams
Wild: PP - 30/137 (21.9%), second in the NAHL; PK - 24/139 (82.7%), 17th in the league.
Brown Bears: PP - 22/137 (16.1%); 13th in the league; PK - 24/126 (81%), 22nd in the NAHL.
Goals For/Against
Wild: For - 3.41 GPG, 10th best in the NAHL. Against - 2.59 GPG, fifth best in the league.
Brown Bears: For - 3.26 GPG, 13th in the NAHL. Against - 3.04 GPG, 12th in the NAHL.
Shots For/Against
Wild: For - 32.82 SPG, eighth best in the NAHL. Against - 25.91 SPG, sixth best in the league.
Brown Bears: For - 32.26 SPG, ninth best in the NAHL. Against - 29.22 SPG, ninth in the NAHL.
All statistics and standings are through Nov. 17, 2010
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