WENATCHEE – In the first period of Sunday’s Western Hockey League game at Angel of the Winds Arena, the Wenatchee Wild and Everett Silvertips established the power play as an especially important part of the proceedings. The final 40 minutes made it clear just how important it would be.
The teams combined for five power play goals as the Silvertips scored a 6-1 win, continuing their battle for the top spot in the WHL’s Western Conference standings. Each team notched a power play goal in the first 10 minutes of the game, while Everett added on to its total in the final 40 minutes.
The first penalty of the night saw Rylan Pearce head off for a Silvertips tripping call, and the Wild took advantage just before the halfway mark of the power play. Graham Sward ripped a shot down the slot and got a tip from Evan Friesen in front of the net 7:50 into the game, putting the Wild in front first. Everett answered at the 9:15 mark, on a one-timer from Austin Roest to Dominik Rymon.
The game hinged on a four-minute stretch in the second period that saw the Silvertips climb to a 4-1 advantage – Julius Miettinen picked his way through the transition traffic to give Everett the lead at 5:17 of the stanza, followed by Ben Hemmerling’s wrister from the left circle at 6:28 that gave the hosts a second power play goal. Hayden Smith secured a loose puck at the side of the Wild net and tossed it in at 9:16 for a 4-1 lead.
Wenatchee turned to Brendan Gee in net from there, but the final two Everett markers also came on the power play – Caden Brown scored from the left-wing circle with 13 seconds left in a power play at 15:05 of the second, followed by Teague Patton’s goal with 4:11 left in the contest. His goal also came late in an Everett man-advantage, with just 15 seconds remaining on his team’s final power play of the night.
“I thought we got off to a good start tonight,” said associate head coach Chris Clark. “In the second period, we turned too many pucks over and took too many penalties, but I thought the guys battled hard again in the third. We have to stay out of the box against that team.”
Five Everett players finished with more than one point, with Hemmerling, Rymon, Miettinen and Patton registering a goal and an assist apiece. Tyler Palmer was outstanding in net, earning his 21st win of the season behind 28 saves. In all, the Silvertips finished 4-for-7 on the power play, moving to 33-17-1-2 for the season.
Starting Wenatchee netminder Daniel Hauser nabbed 17 saves, taking the loss, while Gee went 10-for-12 in a no-decision. Friesen’s goal bumped his career-long point streak to 10 games, while Kenta Isogai earned an assist on Friesen’s power play goal to extend his own run to 12 games in a row. The Wild dropped to 27-18-4-0 on the year.
Wenatchee comes home again Wednesday for a game against the Tri-City Americans, presented by Health Alliance – the opening puck drop at Town Toyota Center is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tickets for that game and all home regular-season games are on sale now at 509-888-7825, or by visiting the team office at Town Toyota Center. Wild playoff packages and 2024-25 season tickets are now on sale as well – 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, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
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