Wild Back On Track
Published on January 23, 2010 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release
WENATCHEE, Wash. - The Wenatchee Wild ended a 3-game winless streak Friday night before a crowd of 4,107, the largest attendance in team history, with a 6-2 victory over the Fairbanks Ice Dogs. It was Wenatchee's fifth win in six games against Fairbanks, which fell 17 points behind Wenatchee for first place in the West Division.
Wenatchee went wild late in the first period to take a 2-0 lead into the locker room. Brandon Burrell (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) scored the first goal on a one-timer from Nathan Sliwinski (Castle Rock, Col.) from the blue line with 86 seconds remaining in the first frame. Andrew Christ (Spokane, Wash.) earned the second assist. Dajon Mingo (Canton, Mich.) made it 2-0 with 51 seconds left in the period when he scored shorthanded from the slot on a crisp pass from Jeff Jubinville (Edmonton, AB) from the near side corner.
The offensive pressure the Wild generated late in the first period was sustained into the second period. Mitch Torrel's (Monticello, Minn.) power play goal, scored on a rebound off of Kyle Brodie's (Northglenn, Col.) slapper from the blue line, made it 3-0 four minutes into the second period. Mark Miller (Massena, N.Y.) was credited with the second assist on Torrel's goal. Mingo lit the lamp for the second time near the 10-minute mark on a wrist shot from the slot on a 5-on-3 power play. Adam McKenzie (Petaluma, Calif.) earned the lone assist on Mingo's power play marker. Fairbanks cut the Wild lead back to three goals at the 11:32 mark of the second frame when Justin Kirchhevel scored on a top shelf wrist shot.
Wenatchee reclaimed its 4-goal lead 34 seconds into the third period on an even strength goal by Jubinville. After receiving a pass from Mingo, Jubinville rushed into the Fairbanks zone down the far wing and wristed a shot from the top of the faceoff circle that hit Fairbanks goaltender Joe Phillippi's glove and bounced into the net. Armand Deswardt (Dallas, Texas) scored Wenatchee's final goal of the game two minutes later on another Wenatchee power play on a wrist shot from inside the near faceoff circle. Alex McLean (Duluth, Minn.) assisted. Fairbanks' Mark Pustin closed out the scoring with a power play goal at 15:35 for the 6-2 final.
Wenatchee goaltender Brendan Jensen (El Granada, Calif.) stopped 21-of-23 shots and improved to 7-1-2 with the win. Phillippi stopped 25-of-29 shots before being replaced in the third period by Mike Taffe. Taffe made eight saves on 10 shots down the stretch. The Ice Dogs, which entered the game with the best power play in the league (22.7 percent), had 11 chances on the man advantage but managed just one power play goal. The Wild went 3-for-9 on the power play.
Mingo, the No. 1 star of the game, scored two goals and one assist for his third 3-point game of the season. Jubinville had a 2-point night (1G, 1A) to increase his team-leading points total to 39 (19G, 20A).
The Wild will try to sweep the Ice Dogs at the Town Toyota Center Saturday at 7:05 p.m.
North American Hockey League Stories from January 23, 2010
- Wild sweep Ice Dogs - Wenatchee Wild
- Stars drop shootout, 4-3 - Traverse City North Stars
- Bobcats Hang on for 5-4 Shootout Win - Bismarck Bobcats
- Rangers Complete Sweep - Marquette Rangers
- Wild Back On Track - Wenatchee Wild
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