Wild Rout Monsters in Game 1 of Divisional Semifinals
Published on April 13, 2013 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release
WENATCHEE, Wash. - The Kuchera twins each scored a goalmidway through the first period, and the Wenatchee Wild never looked back,routing the Fresno Monsters 7-0 Friday at the Town Toyota Center in Game 1 ofthe NAHL West Division semifinals.
Derick Kuchera(Eagan, Minn.), the defenseman, scored the first goal of the series 10:18 intothe first frame when he lit the lamp on a one-timer from the far point. Joe Sullivan (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Chris Jones (Normandy Park, Wash.)picked up the assists.
Nick Kuchera(Eagan, Minn.), the forward, doubled the Wild lead to 2-0 less than two minutesafter twin brother Derick broke a scoreless tie when he scored on a reboundduring a man-advantage. Max McHugh (Edgewood,Wash.) and Sullivan picked up the assists.
"I thought we came out pretty quick and got pucks behindtheir D," said Wenatchee Wild head coach BlissLittler. "It was a good way to start."
Fresno outshot Wenatchee in the second period, but the onlyshot that mattered came off the stick of forward Evan Schmidbauer (Surrey, British Columbia), who gave the Wild a3-0 lead near the midpoint of second period. Schmidbauer scored one-on-one witha defender in tow, finishing the job by lofting the puck over the goaltender'sright shoulder. Josh Hartley (Coquitlam,British Columbia) assisted with a long sendoff pass to Schmidbauer.
The Wild ran away with the game in the third period, scoringfour unanswered power-play goals for the 7-0 win. Hartley started the thirdperiod goal barrage when he tapped in a rebound off of Jono Davis' (La Verne, Calif.) blistering slap shot from the rightcircle. Jacob Barber (DardennePrairie, Mo.) also assisted.
Wenatchee took a 5-0 lead 80 seconds after Hartley scoredwhen Noah Nelson (Oconomowoc, Wis.)notched his team's third power-play goal of the contest on assists from Hartleyand Blake Butzow (Plymouth, Mich.).
Davis extended Wenatchee's lead to 6-0 with a little morethan 11 minutes remaining in regulation when he scored on a rocket shot fromthe slot during a two-man advantage. ChrisKerr (Penticton, British Columbia) closed out scoring with 1:02 left in thethird period when he knocked in a loose puck. Nelson and Hartley earned theassists.
Robert Nichols(Dallas, Texas) stopped all 23 shots he faced to earn the shutout win. Hisfinest save of the night may have come early in the first period when he deniedJustin Plate during a breakaway to maintain a scoreless tie.
The Monsters gave the Wild 11 power plays, five of which theWild scored on. Fresno went 0-for-4 on its power plays. Fresno goalie TomasSholl made 34 saves on 41 shots in the loss.
"In the playoffs, you need your goalie to play well and yourspecial teams to be good," said Littler, whose team won both phases of thegame. Fresno, on the other hand, went 0-for-4 on its man-advantages.
Hartley led the Wild with four points (1G, 3A). Nelson (1G,1A), Davis (1G, 1A) and Sullivan (2A) each recorded two points for the Wild.
Game 2 of the West Division semifinals between the Wild andMonsters is Saturday at the Town Toyota Center. The puck is set to drop at 7:05p.m. Fans can order tickets for the game by calling 509.888.PUCK (7825). Inaddition, for a small fee, fans can watch the game live by logging on to www.FASTHockey.com.
The Wild can take a 2-0 stranglehold in the series with awin Saturday.
"[Friday was] one game, game one of five," Littler said."You gotta win both games at home."
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