Wenatchee sweeps Avalanche


Published on Monday, December 1, 2008 8:31 PM AKST

WENATCHEE, Wash. — The Wenatchee Wild had an answer for everything Sunday night.

Alaska tied the score four times against its North American Hockey League West Division rival, but after three of those scores the Wild posted the go-ahead goal less than a minute later, and Wenatchee earned the 6-5 win over the Avalanche at the Toyota Center in Wenatchee, Wash.

Forward Tyler Currier scored on the power play 3 minutes and 47 seconds into the third period to tie the score at 5-5 for the Avs, but Wenatchee’s Michael Voran recorded the game-winner just 13 seconds later for the Wild.


Like Voran, D.J. Vandercook and Zach Ledford also had answers for Alaska game-tying goals in the second period.

Midway through the second, Kyle Pichler scored for Alaska to tie the score at 3-3. But 20 seconds later, Vandercook posted the power-play tally to give the Wild the 4-3 lead.

Late in the second, Avs blue liner Braden Kinnebrew’s power-play goal tied the score at 4-4. And 49 seconds later, Ledford knocked the puck past Alaska goaltender Dylan Woodring to put the Wild in the lead.

Nardo Nagtzaam and Zach Smith also scored for Alaska. Nagtzaam gave the Avs the early 1-0 lead, but Wenatchee’s Nic Dowd scored twice on the power play during the first period to put the Wild up before the intermission.

Ryan Kowal, Shawn McNeely and Jason Cohen recorded two assists each for Alaska.

The Wenatchee win gave the Wild the three-game sweep of the Avs and pushed the first-year NAHL franchise into second place. Wenatchee (10-9-1) knocked Alaska (9-8-1) into third. The Avs, who travel to Fairbanks to play the first-place Ice Dogs, stand just two points ahead of fourth-place Kenai River (8-15-1) in the West Division standings.

Fairbanks swept Kenai River in a pair of games at the Big Dipper Ice Arena in Fairbanks over the weekend. The Ice Dogs blanked Kenai 3-0 on Friday and skated past the Brown Bears 5-4 the following night.

Two of Alaska’s three losses to Wenatchee were decided by just a goal. The Wild opened the series with a 5-4 overtime win over Alaska on Friday.

Wenatchee 6, Alaska 5

Sunday, Toyota Center

First period — 1. Alaska- Nagtzaam (Kowal, Smith) 3:07, 2. Wenatchee- Dowd (Vandercook, Voran) pp 6:21, 3. Wenatchee- Dowd (McKellar, Cadiz) pp 14:48.

Second period — 4. Alaska- Smith (Kowal, McNeely) 3:08, 5. Wenatchee- McKellar (Smoot, Brown) 6:57, 6. Alaska- Pichler (Currier, Cohen) 12:29, 7. Wenatchee- Vandercook (Dowd) pp 12:49, 8. Alaska- Kinnebrew (Parenteu, Baldwin) pp 17:14, 9. Wenatchee- Ledford (McKellar, Smoot) 18:03.

Third period — 10. Alaska- Currier (Cohen, McNeely) 3:47, 11. Wenatchee- Voran (Dowd, Vandercook) 4:00.

Shots on goal: Alaska 9-11-15—35, Wenatchee 13-8-2—23; Saves: Alaska- Woodring 11-5-1—17, Wenatchee- 8-8-14—30; Power plays: Alaska 2-for-8, Wenatchee 3-for-4; Penalties: Alaska 6-for-12, Wenatchee 10-for-20.

Comments

10 comment(s)

    Pathetic wrote on Dec 9, 2008 12:51 AM:

    " Look at the statistics this team is one of the highest scoring teams in the Nahl and just lacks a goalie, and here you jumping on smith the same guy that is responsible for this team being here. The tickets by the way are $8.00, been to a game lately. figure it out. "

    Oh ya wrote on Dec 8, 2008 11:53 PM:

    " Matt Friese is going to be a stud. "

    What wrote on Dec 8, 2008 11:52 PM:

    " The team does not need a new coach. The veterans just need to produce. We could have Scotty Bowman up here and you all would still complain.Right now the rookies are playing better than the vets and that's why they're losing. "

    whypaytowatch wrote on Dec 8, 2008 7:00 PM:

    " who wants to pay 10 dollars a ticket to go watch a team lose? not me, the only reason i would spend good money is to go watch mathew friese play. everyone should take the time to go watch this kid play. he is going to go far. "

    Disappointed wrote on Dec 8, 2008 2:46 PM:

    " The team needs a new coach that knows how to play the talent he has. Not just one line! "

    What goes wrote on Dec 7, 2008 12:23 PM:

    " What's going on? Is Smith coaching again? "

    Lucas wrote on Dec 3, 2008 5:51 AM:

    " Jake is playing VERY well in the MNJHL. He has taken over the #1 spot and giving his last place team a chance to win every night. "

    Maybe... wrote on Dec 2, 2008 11:44 PM:

    " Maybe Jake Dargis isn't a bad alternative after all.... "

    Help wrote on Dec 2, 2008 12:00 PM:

    " This team needs a Goalie "

    Call Ron McLean ASAP wrote on Dec 2, 2008 7:30 AM:

    " this team needs a Don Cherry intervention.

    And fast! "

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