Wild Fall Short in Late Comeback Attempt
April 28, 2013 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release
WENATCHEE, Wash. - The Wenatchee Wild attempted to pull offone of their patented comeback victories Saturday against the Fairbanks IceDogs in Game 2 of the NAHL West Division Finals, but came up one goal short ina 4-3 loss at the Town Toyota Center.
Wenatchee trailed Fairbanks 4-1 with a little more than 16minutes remaining in regulation. The Wild refused to throw in the towel and wenton to score two late goals to make it a photo finish.
Tyler Bruneteau (Omaha,Neb.) scored with 4:11 left in regulation on an assist from Chris Jones (Normandy Park, Wash.) tocut Fairbanks' lead down to two goals. The Wild then got an extra-attacker goalfrom Jacob Barber (Dardenne Prairie,Mo.) with 47 seconds left on a slick pass from Josh Hartley (Coquitlam, British Columbia).
Wenatchee had a chance in the last couple seconds ofregulation to get off a solid scoring chance, but a centering feed to the slot wasa bit off target and the Ice Dogs escaped with the win.
Fairbanks opened up a 2-0 first-period lead Saturday oneven-strength goals by Max Birkinbine and Taylor Munson.
Birkinbine scored from the doorstep a little less than sevenminutes into the contest on a rebound. The play started on a faceoff win in theWild zone, followed by an uncontested shot by Garret Clemment from the top ofthe circle. Munson scored with 7:33 left in the first frame after he got a stepon a defender and received a centering feed from Lawrence Cornellier. Devin Loealso assited.
"We played pretty well," said Wild head coach Bliss Littler. "We just got a littlebit sloppy at times. We made some mistakes that you can't make in the playoffs,but we didn't hang our heads and battled all three periods."
Trailing 2-0 entering the second period, the Wild got backinto the game 1:39 into the second period when Jono Davis (La Verne, Calif.) ripped a top shelf shot into the cagefrom the slot on a pass from Max McHugh(Edgewood, Wash.). Unfortunately, Cornellier scored an unassisted marker with1:44 left before the second intermission to get the Ice Dogs' 2-goal lead back.
Cornellier scored again 3:26 into the third period to pushFairbanks' lead to 4-1, setting the stage for Wenatchee's attempted latecomeback.
Robert Nichols(Dallas, Texas) suffered the loss. He made 26 saves on 30 shots. Steve Perry made34 saves on 37 shots to earn the win. There were only three penalties called inthe game, and no power-play goals were scored.
Cornellier led the Ice Dogs with two goals and an assistwhile Clemment notched two assists.
The series, tied 1-1, now shifts to Fairbanks for Games 3and 4 on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Both games are scheduled to beginat 8:30 p.m. For a small fee, fans can watch both games live by logging on to www.FASTHockey.com.
"We'll watch the tape ... I don't think any of us expectedthis to be a quick series," Littler said.
North American Hockey League Stories from April 28, 2013
- Kovar, Bobcats Punch Back with 5-2 Victory - Bismarck Bobcats
- Wild Fall Short in Late Comeback Attempt - Wenatchee Wild
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