Wild Suffer 4-3 Loss to Avalanche
Published on March 6, 2011 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release
PALMER, Alaska. - The Wenatchee Wild scored two power-play goals Saturday night but fell to the Alaska Avalanche, 4-3. The win gave the Avalanche control of second place in the West Division.
The Wild drew first blood at 13:04 of the first period on Jacob Barber's (Dardenne Prairie, Mo.) goal from the slot during his team's first power-play opportunity of the evening. The goal-scoring sequence began with a quick breakout that originated behind the Wild net. Defenseman Cody von Rueden (Northbrook, Ill.) found Ben Carey (Centennial, Colo.), who carried the puck into the offensive zone and slid the puck to Barber from inside the faceoff circle. Barber's wrist shot sailed over Avalanche goaltender Nick Kulmanovsky's right shoulder for his team-leading 30th goal of the season.
Wenatchee extended its lead to 2-0 just under seven minutes into the second period when D.J. Vandercook (Farmington Hills, Mich.) scored on a 5-hole shot from close range. Richard Berzins (Rima, Latvia) and Carl-Johan Sjogren (Tumba, Sweden) assisted on Vandercook's 19th goal of the season.
The Avalanche fought back and managed to tie the score, 2-2, heading into the third period. Joe Schmitz scored Alaska's first goal of the game at 14:22 of the second frame when he knocked in a rebound off of Cody Bisbing's shot. Connor Wright also assisted. Zach Smith then tied the game up with less than two minutes remaining before the second intermission when he scored on a one-timer feed from Blake Huppert during a power play. Daniel Senkbeil also assisted.
The Wild reclaimed the lead, 3-2, at the 9:16 mark of the third period on a loose puck in front of the net during a power play. However, the Avalanche made another comeback late in the game. Huppert tied up the contest, 3-3, with 62 seconds remaining in regulation when he put back a rebound off of Daniel Senkbeil's shot from the point during a man-advantage. Jake Williams also assisted. Matt Friese went on to win the game for the Avs with 18 seconds remaining in regulation on a wrist shot from the near side of the ice.
Kulmanovsky made 18 saves on 21 shots for the Avs. Wild netminder Greg Lewis (Pittsburgh, Pa.) stopped 26 of the 30 shots he faced. Alaska scored two power play goals on seven chances while the Wild went 2-for-4 on man-advantage opportunities. Huppert (1G, 1A), Senkbeil (2A) and Williams (2A) each had 2-point games for Alaska.
The Wild (28-19-3) will continue its Alaskan road trip next week with a 2-game series against the Kenai River Brown Bears on Tuesday and Wednesday. Both games are scheduled to begin at 8:05 p.m. (PST).
North American Hockey League Stories from March 6, 2011
- Bulls Beat IceRays 5-1 - Amarillo Bulls
- Amarillo's Special Teams Too Strong for Corpus Christi - Corpus Christi IceRays
- Stars Cap Sweep with 2-0 Shutout - Traverse City North Stars
- Wild Suffer 4-3 Loss to Avalanche - Wenatchee Wild
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