Wild Bests Monsters in Shootout
Published on October 24, 2010 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release
FRESNO, Calif. - It required a shootout, but the Wenatchee Wild found a way to earn its second consecutive 2-game sweep over the Fresno Monsters Saturday night at Selland Arena with a 4-3 win.
The Monsters struck first, getting a power-play goal from Walker Hyland 53 seconds into the contest when he found the net on a whistling wrist shot from inside the far circle. The Monsters started the game on a 2-minute power play when a Wild player crossed the red line during pregame warm-ups.
Wenatchee knotted the game, 1-1, at the 7:04 mark of the first period. During another Fresno power play, a forechecking Eliot Grauer (Mukioteo, Wash.) came up with the puck and beat Monsters goaltender Louis Puig on a wraparound when he banked the puck into the net off of his skate. Ben Carey (Centennial, Colo.) assisted.
The Wild were rewarded for its hard work at the end of the first period when Zach Frye (Spokane, Wash.) picked the top right corner of the net on a blistering slap shot from the blue line for his third goal of the season with just one second remaining before the first intermission. D.J. Vandercook (Farmington Hills, Mich.) assisted.
Michael Di Puma (Chicago, Ill.) gave Wenatchee a 3-1 lead a little over three minutes into the second period when he notched a power-play goal on a deft pass from Zachary Wallace (Burbank, Calif.) from the point. Frye earned the second assist on the goal for his second point of the game.
The Monsters wouldn't go away, however. John Siemer's breakaway goal at the 11:34 mark of the second period cut the Wild's lead back to 3-2. Then, late in the third period, Mike Cox sent the game to overtime when he wristed a circle-to-circle pass from D.J. Carnley past Wild goaltender Brandon Jaeger (Champlin, Minn.).
Jaeger made five saves in overtime after the Wild took a penalty. He went on to stop all but one of the Monsters in the shootout while Grauer and Di Puma scored for the Wild to earn the victory.
Jaeger, who earned his eighth win, made 28 saves on 31 shots. Monsters netminder Louis Puig turned aside 37 of the 40 shots he faced. Wenatchee went 1-for-6 on the man-advantage while Fresno went 1-for-7.
Frye led the Wild with a goal and an assist. Siemer scored a goal and an assist for the Monsters.
The Wild (10-3) will travel to Frisco, Texas, next weekend (Oct. 29-30) for a 2-game series against the Tornado. Both games will begin at 5:30 p.m. (PST).
North American Hockey League Stories from October 24, 2010
- Stars Edged, 3-2 - Traverse City North Stars
- Eight Is Enough as Tornado Beat up IceRays, 8-3 - Texas Tornado
- Jr. Blues Fall to Chicago Hitmen in OT - Springfield Jr. Blues
- Corpus Christi Swept up by the Tornado, 2-1 - Corpus Christi IceRays
- Wild Bests Monsters in Shootout - Wenatchee Wild
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