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WHL Wenatchee Wild

Wild Fall at Tri-City Saturday; String of Home Wins Continues in Head-To-Head Series

December 10, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release


Wenatchee Wild's Kenta Isogai battles Tri-City Americans' Pasha Bocharov
Wenatchee Wild's Kenta Isogai battles Tri-City Americans' Pasha Bocharov
(Wenatchee Wild, Credit: Russ Alman/Wenatchee Wild)

KENNEWICK, Wash. - Home-ice advantage has been huge in the head-to-head series between the Wenatchee Wild and Tri-City Americans. In fact, in the first five meetings between the teams, it's told the tale every time.

Lukas Dragicevic did the honors on Tri-City's Teddy Bear Toss night Saturday, and his teammates pitched in as the Wild took a 9-3 loss, dropping to 19-9-3-0 on the season and seeing a 10-game point streak in the U.S. Division standings come to an end. Kenta Isogai highlighted the play for the visitors with a pair of goals.

Dragicevic tossed a shot to the back of the net at 5:37 of the first period to bring the teddy bears onto the ice, sending a wrister into the net from the top of the faceoff circles. Parker Bell hit Jordan Gavin on an odd-man rush at 8:14, and Bell added a goal of his own on the power play at 14:23 for a 3-0 Tri-City lead at the intermission.

Isogai put Wenatchee on the comeback trail at 2:04 of the period, pitching home a second-chance marker to cut the Americans' lead to 3-1. However, Brandon Whynott responded at the 4:12 mark with a shot to the top corner of the net to push the lead back out to three goals. Gavin added a second goal at 5:35 of the period, spelling the end of the night for Daniel Hauser, who made his return to the lineup Saturday after a three-week absence due to an upper-body injury.

Bell picked up his second goal at 9:18, and Max Curran added his name to the score sheet at 10:38 for a 7-1 margin. With Wenatchee on the power play, though, Isogai struck again, hammering home a one-timer from Briley Wood at the 12:35 mark of the period, just 19 seconds into a tripping minor to Jackson Smith. Whynott picked up his second goal of the night with 48 seconds left in the period, sneaking a sharp-angle shot between Brendan Gee and the post to his left to send the Americans to the locker room with an 8-2 advantage.

The Wild took advantage of another power play early in the third - with Ethan Peters serving a delay-of-game penalty, Jonas Woo tossed one down the slot that beat goaltender Kyle Kelsey at the 2:44 mark, carving into the lead once more. Tri-City got the last tally of the night, from Andrew Fan with 2:17 to play.

Seven Tri-City players wrapped up the night with multi-point efforts, led by Jake Sloan with four assists. Whynott, Bell and Gavin finished with two goals and an assist apiece. Isogai had two goals for the Wild, while Matthew Savoie posted two assists. Savoie saw his point-scoring streak extended to nine games, while Conor Geekie saw his scoring streak end at eight straight contests. Isogai ran his recent run to seven straight games with at least one point.

The power play was a highlight for Wenatchee, going 2-for-5 while wiping away two of Tri-City's three chances on the evening. Hauser took the loss with 18 saves, while Gee took the no-decision behind a 17-save effort. Kelsey earned the win, stopping 32 Wild chances and moving the Ams to 15-12-1-1 for the season.

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Images from this story

Wenatchee Wild's Kenta Isogai battles Tri-City Americans' Pasha Bocharov
Wenatchee Wild's Kenta Isogai battles Tri-City Americans' Pasha Bocharov
(Russ Alman/Wenatchee Wild)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from December 10, 2023


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