Wild Lock up Second Seed in West Division Playoffs
April 1, 2012 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release
WENATCHEE, Wash. - The Wenatchee Wild earned a 3-1 victory Saturday and wrapped up the 2011-12 regular season with a 2-game sweep over theFresno Monsters at the Town Toyota Center. The Wild secured the second seed inthe West Division playoffs with the victory and knocked the Monsters out of theplayoffs.
The Monsters drew first blood in a contest they had to earnat least one point in to have a shot at securing the fourth and final playoffspot in the West Division. Riley Borer notched the goal 2:41 into regulation ona long slap shot from Ryan Doner and Kyle Sucher. It was the only goal theMonsters would get.
The Wild evened the score a little over a minute later when Dylan Abood (Centennial, Colo.) whippedin a wrister from the inside top edge of the far faceoff circle. Matt Cope (Lakewood, Colo.) and Ben Carey (Centennial, Colo.) earnedthe assists after cycling the puck around the boards. Carey etched his name inthe Wild history book on the sequence. The assist represented his 100thcareer regular-season point. In addition, he became the franchise's topsingle-season point-getter surpassing the previous mark of 56, which was heldby Mike Voran (2008-09) and D.J. Vandercook (2010-11).
Blake Roubos (NiagaraFalls, Ontario) scored what would count as the eventual game-winner 2:56 intothe second frame. Entering the zone on a 2-on-2, Roubos received a pass from Evan Schmidbauer (Surrey, BritishColumbia) in the slot. Tomas Sholl denied Roubos' first shot with his right toe,but he couldn't control the rebound and Roubos lit the lamp on his second shot.Kyle Huson (Parker, Colo.) startedthe play with a long breakout pass to Schmidbauer.
Shawn Pauly (Bellingham,Wash.) tacked on a short-handed empty-netter a moment before the buzzer soundedto end the contest. Chris Kerr (Penticton,British Columbia) and Brendan Vetter(North Fond du Lac, Wis.) were credited with the assists.
Greg Lewis (Mars,Pa.) made 28 saves on 29 shots to earn the win. He was especially strong in thethird period when he denied all 18 shots he faced and refused to give up thetying goal even though the Wild were slapped with a pair of 2-minute penaltiesvery late in regulation. Sholl made 33 saves on 35 shots for Fresno.
Neither team scored on its power play chances. Wenatcheewent 0-for-2 while Fresno went 0-for-3.
The Wild (36-17-7) will host the first three games of theirWest Division semifinal series against the Alaska Avalanche next week. Thefirst game is set for 6:35 p.m. Thursday. Games 2 and 3 on Friday and Saturday,respectively, will both begin at 7:05 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by calling509-888-PUCK (7825), by visiting the Town Toyota Center Box Office or bylogging on to http://tickets.wenatcheewild.com/.
North American Hockey League Stories from April 1, 2012
- Jacks Wrap Regular Season With 3-1 Loss - Odessa Jackalopes
- Bad(ner) to the Bone: Winger Scores Four in 6-1 Win - Traverse City North Stars
- 'Runners Double up Jacks in 6-3 Win - Topeka Pilots
- Bulls Beat New Mexico 4-1 to Close out Regular Season - Amarillo Bulls
- Wild Lock up Second Seed in West Division Playoffs - Wenatchee Wild
- Bobcats Rally, Close Regular Season with 4-2 Win - Bismarck Bobcats
- Roadrunners Race Past Jacks 6-3 - Odessa Jackalopes
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