Wild Snaps Skid With Win Over Fairbanks
November 2, 2013 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release
Wenatchee, WA. - The Wenatchee Wild busted a seven-game winless skid Friday night, by beating the Fairbanks Ice Dogs 3-2, in front of 2,338 fans at the Town Toyota Center.
The Wild grabbed the early lead on a goal by Gadel Gumerov (Nizhnekamsk, Russia), who came out of the penalty box to joining in on a 2-on-1 break. The unassisted goal, scored at 4:54, gave Wenatchee a 1-0 lead. The Wild extended the lead late in the opening period, as Troy Loggins (Huntington Beach, California) tapped home a crossing pass just above the goal mouth. Trey Bradley (Tampa, Florida) and Sam Becker (Roseville, Minnesota) drew assists on the power play goal at 18:44, giving Wenatchee a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes.
In the second period, Doug Rose found a loose puck and wristed one home from the bottom of the right circle for Fairbanks. The unassisted goal, coming at 2:52, sliced the Wild lead in half, down to 2-1. Wenatchee regained the two-goal lead late in the period, as Nick Rivera (Pacific Palisades, California) banged home a centering pass from the left wing corner. The goal, assisted by David Powlowski (Rochester, New York) and Brandon Schrader (Sanborn, New York) at 15:47, put the Wild up 3-1 after two.
Victor Munter found the back of the net from the left point, just shy of the 13 minute mark of the third period for the Ice Dogs. The goal, assisted by Brett Gervais and Lonnie Clary at 12:44, thinned the Wenatchee lead to 3-2. Fairbanks would pull their goaltender in the final minute of regulation but weren't able to net the equalizer, as the Wild held on for the one-goal win. "We made some plays" said Wenatchee Wild Head Coach Bliss Littler. "And we eliminated a few more ways to get beat, we gave ourselves a chance. We had very good goaltending." Littler continued, saying "We probably got their (Fairbanks) attention. I'm sure that we'll get a better effort on their part. It will be a good challenge tomorrow to see one of the better teams in the league, how they respond after a loss, so it'll be a good test for us."
The Ice Dogs outshot Wenatchee 38-32. Gustaf Johansson (Uppsala, Sweden) made 36 saves in his season debut for the Wild, while Kevin Aldridge made 29 stops in goal for Fairbanks. Wenatchee was 0-for-5 on the power play and 4-of-4 on the penalty kill.
The Wild is now 6-8-2, Fairbanks is 10-6-0.
The Fairbanks Ice Dogs play Wenatchee again tomorrow (Saturday night), with faceoff set for 7:05pm PDT. Then, it's the Michigan Warriors for two on Friday and Saturday, November 8th and 9th, with face off both nights at 7:05pm PST. Individual and group game tickets for all home games are on sale now. Call 509.888.PUCK (7825).
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