Wild advance to West Division finals

PALMER, Alaska - The Wenatchee Wild went 0-4 in the regular

season at Palmer Ice Arena, the Alaska Avalanche's home barn. The

Wild avenged its regular-season woes Friday by earning the only win

at the Palmer Ice Arena that mattered - a 4-2 victory in Game 3 of

the West Division semifinals. The Wild swept the Avalanche with the

win and earned a berth in the West Division finals.

PALMER, Alaska - The Wenatchee Wild went 0-4 in the regular season at Palmer Ice Arena, the Alaska Avalanche's home barn. The Wild avenged its regular-season woes Friday by earning the only win at the Palmer Ice Arena that mattered - a 4-2 victory in Game 3 of the West Division semifinals. The Wild swept the Avalanche with the win and earned a berth in the West Division finals.

Wenatchee will meet the Fairbanks Ice Dogs in the divisional finals. Fairbanks, the regular-season West Division champion, advanced to the divisional finals Friday after sweeping the Kenai River Brown Bears in the West Division's other semifinal series.

Alaska took its first lead in the series 6:10 into the first period when Zach Smith scored a 5-on-3 power-play goal from Andy Pearson and Daniel Senkbeil. The Wild got even a little over 10 minutes later when Michael Di Puma (Chicago, Ill.) buried a rebound from the slot past Landon Peterson. Jacob Barber (Dardenne Prairie, Mo.) and Bradley Shumway (Lafayette, Colo.) assisted.

The Wild took the lead 8:24 into the second period a moment after a man-advantage expired when Max McHugh (Edgewood, Wash.) lit the lamp. Cody von Rueden (Northbrook, Ill.) and D.J. Vandercook (Farmington Hills, Mich.) assisted.

Matt Cope (Lakewood, Colo.) gave the Wenatchee a critical 2-goal lead 77 seconds into the third stanza when on assists from von Rueden and Di Puma. Alaska got back into the contest briefly after a neutral zone turnover by Wenatchee that led to a short-handed goal by Eliot Grauer. Matt Friese assisted.

The Wild took the momentum right back from the Avs 25 seconds after Grauer's marker when Shawn Pauly (Bellingham, Wash.) banged in a power-play marker from Di Puma and Chris Rumble (Chesapeake, Va.).

Di Puma, a catalyst for the Wild this series, added three more points to his playoff total Friday night with a goal and two helpers. Von Rueden recorded two assists.

Brandon Jaeger (Champlin, Minn.) absorbed 16-of-18 shots to improve to 3-0 in the 2011 playoffs. Peterson made 15 saves on 19 shots.

EXTRA SPECIAL: Anthony Petruzzelli will spend this summer at home in Federal Way, Wash., preparing for the next chapter in his hockey career. In the meantime, he will have plenty of stories to tell about his last chapter, and a gold medal to show off while he shares his tales.

Petruzzelli and his Helena Bighorns teammates won the USA Hockey Tier III Junior A National Championship in Rochester, Minn., on Tuesday. Winning the 12-team tournament still felt surreal to Petruzzelli, one of the Wenatchee Wild's 2011-12 tenders, two days later.

"It's kind of an unreal feeling," said Petruzzelli. "It still hasn't hit me that we won a national championship. It's an awesome feeling that can't be compared to anything, really."

Based out of Helena, Mont., the Bighorns won the America West Division of the Northern Pacific Hockey League (NORPAC) with an incredible 48-2 record. They went on to sweep three straight playoff rounds to win the Cascade Cup and earn a berth in the national championships.

Helena lost to the Walpole Express 4-3 during pool play of the national tournament. The Bighorns avenged that loss with a 4-3 win over the Express in the tournament semifinals, setting up a 5-1 win over the El Paso Rhinos in the title tilt.

Petruzzelli, who will turn 18 years old on May 9, was a catalyst for the Bighorns all season.

In 48 regular season games, he scored 46 goals and added 55 assists (101 points) for an incredible average of 2.1 points per contest.

His point total tied him for third best in the league, and his 46 goals were third best.

In March, Petruzzelli was rewarded for his regular-season work when he was named the NORPAC Rookie of the Year.