Wild Take Silvertips to Brink in 2025-26 Finale, Fall, 6-5, Saturday in Everett
WHL Wenatchee Wild

Wild Take Silvertips to Brink in 2025-26 Finale, Fall, 6-5, Saturday in Everett

Published on March 21, 2026 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release


Wenatchee Wild's Mason Kraft and Aiden Grossklaus on game night
Wenatchee Wild's Mason Kraft and Aiden Grossklaus on game night
(Wenatchee Wild, Credit: Evan Morud/Everett Silvertips)

EVERETT, Wash. - As the countdown on the 2025-26 season reached zero on Saturday night, the Wenatchee Wild were not about to go quietly into the Snohomish County night.

Carsten Leyerzapf stopped 54 Everett Silvertips chances to match his Western Hockey League debut from just 23 hours before, while Zane Saab and Aiden Grossklaus both lit the lamp twice - however, Wenatchee came up just short in a 6-5 loss at Angel of the Winds Arena to close its third WHL campaign. The Wild wrapped up the year at 25-38-3-2, eclipsing their win total from the 2024-25 season.

After peppering the Silvertips for four first-period goals in Wenatchee on Friday, Everett jumped out to a four-goal lead in the opening 20 minutes, starting with a putback goal from Nolan Chastko 2:39 into the game. Henri Ament rifled a wrist shot down the slot halfway through the period to double the lead, and Hunter Rudolph doubled the lead again with a pair of goals - his jab from the doorstep with 7:41 left in the period made it a 3-0 game, and his tip on a Jaxon Pisani shot from the left point with 4:12 to go pushed the lead to 4-0.

The lead held - barely.

Wenatchee cut the margin in half in the opening 2:01 of the second, with a sharp-angle toss from Brandon Osborne and a quick snap at the front of the net from Saab, just as Anders Miller attempted to slam his mitt down on a puck sitting in front of him. At 5:20 of the period, Grossklaus grabbed a Silvertips fumble at the Wild blue line and took off, sneaking it past Miller to cut the lead to 4-3.

The Silvertips regrouped, getting a third goal from Rudolph at 9:05 with a fourth-chance jam shot at the edge of the crease. With Everett on the power play and 5:55 on the second-period clock, Landon DuPont's shot rebounded out for a second-chance marker from Julius Miettinen and a 6-3 advantage.

Saab picked up his second goal less than two minutes into the third, driving the net from the right wing and shoving it past Miller to trim the Silvertips' advantage to 6-4. Grossklaus's goal with 6.2 seconds to play capped the scoring, getting a piece of Darian Rolsing's wrist shot from the top of the right-wing circle.

Rudolph's hat trick and Jesse Heslop's three assists led all scorers, while Chastko finished with a goal and an assist and Brek Liske picked up two helpers for the Silvertips. Miller stopped 18 of 23 Wenatchee shots, closing the regular season with 31 wins. Everett closed the year with a 57-8-3-2 record, tying the WHL's 68-game wins record set by the 2022-23 Winnipeg ICE, and breaking Winnipeg's record of 115 standings points from that season.

Rolsing had two assists, while Grossklaus and Saab each set the pace for Wenatchee with their two goals. Wenatchee came up empty on its two power plays, but killed three of Everett's four power plays on the evening.

Josh Toll notched an assist to get to the 50-assist plateau, the first Wenatchee player to get there since Graham Sward and Kenta Isogai both passed the half-century mark during the 2023-24 season. His 54 points made him the first defenseman in the club's 30-year WHL history, dating back to the 1996-97 Edmonton ICE, to lead the club in scoring.

2026-27 season tickets are on sale now by phone at 509-888-7825, or by visiting the team office at Town Toyota Center. Updated news and information on Wild hockey are always available through the team's website and on the team's social media platforms on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.

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Images from this story

Wenatchee Wild's Mason Kraft and Aiden Grossklaus on game night
Wenatchee Wild's Mason Kraft and Aiden Grossklaus on game night
(Evan Morud/Everett Silvertips)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from March 21, 2026


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