Wenatchee goes Wild, ties playoff series

WENATCHEE, Wash. — The first weekend of NAHL playoff hockey in Wenatchee settled very little. The Alaska Avalanche did what they wanted to Friday, winning to earn at least a split in the first two games of the series. The Wenatchee Wild did what they had to Saturday, prevailing 8-2 to even the first round West Division series at 1-1.

DJ Vandercook had a hat trick for the Wild, and Nic Dowd added a pair of goals and an assist in a game the Wild had to win to avoid a 2-0 series deficit.

“We didn’t stress out about it too much,” Voran said. “We just focused on this game, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t in the back of the minds of some of the guys.”

Alaska’s Kyle Pichler staked his team to a 1-0 lead when he knocked home a rebound at 4:17 of the first period.

Dowd tied the game with a goal at 9:46, then put Wenatchee in front to stay with a power play goal at 17:15 of the first period.

“We didn’t play that bad,” Avalanche coach Dave Boitz said. “Last night we were a little tight and I did some things to loosen them up. Tonight maybe we were a little bit too loose.”

After a great game in goal in the series opener, Nathaniel Pellegrino surrendered eight goals on 40 Wild shots Saturday.

“I talked to Pellegrino and he said there were four or five he should have had,” Boitz said. “We need him to be sharp.”

For the first 10 minutes of the second period, the score remained 2-1, but the Wild scored three goals in a five-minute span starting midway through the period to blow things open.

Vandercook scored his first goal of the night on a tap-in after Mike Voran somehow squeezed a shot between Pellegrino and the post. The puck fluttered to rest behind the Avs goalie, and Vandercook was there to tap it home.

Duncan McKellar scored less than two minutes later, and Vandercook added his second goal, this one on the power play at 15:24 to make it 5-1.

Cory Belisle got one back for the Avs before the end of the second period, scoring on an assist from Daniel Hildbrandt at 18:18.

But the Wild tacked on three more goals in the third period to win going away. Vandercook’s second power play goal of the night completed the hat trick and made it 6-2 at 10:21 of the third.

“I think everyone would agree with me that scoring goals is great,” Vandercook said. “But all that matters is that we got the win. That’s the most imporant thing to me right now.”

Jake Flynn scored 37 seconds later, and Voran capped the scoring with a goal at 19:30.

“This is going to stay on their minds all week,” Voran said. “This was a really big win for us.”

Boitz said he’s not concerned about any lingering affects of the six-goal defeat.

“Our guys, we’re the kind of team that we can get beat 7-0 one night and come back and win 2-1 the next,” he said. “I know we’re excited about next Friday.”

Unlike the first game, the Wild played well on special teams, converting three of six power play opportunities while holding the Avs scoreless on three power play tries.

“Basically it’s the same thing we talked about last night,” Baxter said. “On our power play and penalty kill, the intensity was there. That correlates to how we played five-on-five.”

Baxter is also trying to keep his team on an even keel.

“Like I told the guys, turn it around and say we win 8-2 on Friday and lose 4-3 (Saturday). There shouldn’t be any difference for how we play (next) Friday,” Wild coach Paul Baxter said.

Corey Voegele is a reporter for the Wenatchee World in Wenatchee, Wash., and the beat writer for Wenatchee Wild hockey.