Roubos powers Wenatchee Wild with a four goal, five point game

TOPEKA, Kan. - Blake Roubos (Niagara Falls, Ontario) gave his Wenatchee Wild teammates an early Christmas gift Saturday night - four goals and an assist, which led to a 7-1 victory over the Topeka RoadRunners at the Kansas Expo Centre in Topeka. The win gave the Wild a split in this weekend's two-game series after withstanding a 2-1 loss in the first game of the series Friday.

Back in the lineup this weekend for the first time since suffering an injury two weeks ago, Roubos recorded two goals in the first period, before matching his own effort with two more markers in the second stanza.

Roubos gave the Wild a 1-0 lead with 9:11 left in the first period when he intercepted the puck at the Topeka blue line and scored on a wrist shot from inside the near circle, beating Peter Traber glove side. Trevor Stewart (East Wenatchee, Wash.) doubled Wenatchee's lead less than two minute later when he scored his first goal of the season on a backhander from the slot. Kyle Huson (Parker, Colo.) and Matt Cope (Lakewood, Colo.) assisted.

Roubos, who began the season with the USHL's Sioux Falls Stampede and was added to the Wild roster in late November, recorded his second goal of the contest with 3:18 remaining before the first intermission when he knocked in a rebound from the near side of the net off of Trace Redmond's (McKinney, Texas) one-timer from the top of the far circle. Ben Carey (Centennial, Colo.) picked up the second assist.

Committed to Niagara University, Roubos struck for two power-play goals in the second period to extend the Wild lead to 5-0. His third goal of the game came 64 seconds into the second period. Roubos picked up the puck along the near wall after a Topeka clearing attempt and scored on a wrist shot with traffic in front of the net from the high slot. Chris Knudson (North Barrington, Ill.) assisted. Roubos found the net again 3:15 later during another man-advantage when he jammed in a centering feed from Redmond from the doorstep. Carey earned his second assist of the game on the sequence.

Wenatchee added two more power-play goals in the third period. Defenseman Michael Lant (Suwanee, Ga.) scored the first of those goals 7:37 into the stanza on a blistering slap shot from above the circles. Roubos and Carey assisted. Carey went on to close out scoring for the Wild with 4:31 left in the contest when he cleaned up a rebound. Chris Kerr (Penticton, British Columbia) earned the lone assist.

Luke Veitch broke up Robert Nichols' (Dallas, Texas) shutout bid with 4:02 remaining in the game when he scored on a wrist shot from the near point. Linus Johansson and Trace Strahle picked up the assists.

Nichols made 19 saves on 20 shots to increase his record to 9-1-3. Traber, who allowed just one goal in the first game of the series Friday, made eight saves on 11 shots. Traber was replaced in the first period by Colin Lemay, who made 17 saves on 21 shots the rest of the game.

Roubos led the Wild with four goals and an assist. His four goals tied him with Kerr for the most goals scored in a single game, a record that Kerr set in a 6-1 win over the Dawson Creek Rage on Dec. 4 at the Town Toyota Center. Carey scored a goal and a playmaker for a four-point night while Redmond added a pair of helpers.

Wenatchee scored four power-play goals on eight chances while Topeka went 0-for-2 on its advantages.

The Wild (14-9-4) will ring in 2012 with a two-game series at the Town Toyota Center against the West Division-leading Alaska Avalanche on Dec. 30-31. The first game of the series will begin at 7:05 p.m. while the second game is slated for a 6:05 p.m. start.