Wild knocks wind out of Tornado
WENATCHEE - The Wenatchee Wild scored three second-period goals
Saturday night and goaltender Brandon Jaeger (Champlin, Minn.)
earned his fourth shutout of the season in a 3-0 victory over the
Texas Tornado. The win gave the Wild three points in its 2-game
series against the Tornado this weekend after falling in a shootout
Friday, 4-3.
WENATCHEE - The Wenatchee Wild scored three second-period goals Saturday night and goaltender Brandon Jaeger (Champlin, Minn.) earned his fourth shutout of the season in a 3-0 victory over the Texas Tornado. The win gave the Wild three points in its 2-game series against the Tornado this weekend after falling in a shootout Friday, 4-3.
After 20 minutes of scoreless play, Evan Schmidbauer (Surrey, BC) put the Wild on the scoreboard at 5:08 of the second period when he tipped in Patrick Kinkopf's (Seattle, Wash.) shot from the far point. Kinkopf's shot came after he kept a clearing attempt in the offensive zone along the boards.
Wenatchee scored a pair of power-play goals late in the second period for a 3-0 lead heading into the final stanza. Tyler Hope (McKinney, Texas) recorded the first man-advantage marker at 15:40 when he tapped in a rebound off of Chris Rumble's (Chesapeake, Va.) wrister from the point. Ben Carey (Centennial, Colo.) also assisted. Rumble made it a 3-goal game during a 5-minute power-play opportunity with just four seconds remaining before the second intermission. Off of a faceoff win in the Tornado zone, Rumble sailed a wrist shot through traffic that beat goaltender Jimmy Kruger. Zachary Wallace (Burbank, Calif.) and Carey assisted.
Jaeger made 21 saves for the shutout, improving his record to 17-9-3 in the process. Kruger turned aside 31 of the 34 shots the Wild took. Wenatchee scored two power play goals on six chances while Texas went 0-for-3. Rumble (1G, 1A) and Carey (2A) each had 2-point games for the Wild.
The Wild (24-15-3) will host the Alaska Avalanche this weeked with both games slated to begin at 7:05 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.
NOTES: Forward D.J. Vandercook (Farmington Hills, Mich.) and defensemen Chris Rumble (Chesapeake, Va.) and Hunter Brown (Huntsville, Ala.) were selected Tuesday to represent the Wenatchee Wild on Team West at the Top Prospects Tournament, which will be held Feb. 20-22 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Chosen by the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament Selection Committee, all three of the Wild's participants have yet to make college commitments. The tournament will provide them with the opportunity to compete in a 3-game round robin format against other top players in the league while being evaluated by an army of scouts.
"They are all deserving and will get a chance to showcase their talents one more time before the playoffs begin," Wenatchee Wild head coach John Becanic said.
Vandercook, 20, is the team's captain. His 36 points (15G, 21A) tie him for the most on the team along with Eliot Grauer (Mukioteo, Wash.). Vandercook was also a key contributor on the inaugural Wild team in 2008-09, which advanced all the way to the Robertson Cup championship game in its first year of existence. Vandercook was a 50-point scorer (30G, 20A) in 2008-09, and he added 20 more points (10G, 10A) during the team's playoff run.
A versatile defender, Rumble has been a force on the blue line for the Wild the past two seasons. Rumble, 20, leads all Wild defensemen with 25 points (6G, 19A), a total which currently ranks him 12th among all defensemen in the league. Rumble has been particularly valuable to the Wild's high-scoring power-play unit this season, which is second best in the league with a success rate of 23.8 percent. On the power play, Rumble has scored five goals and added 15 assists. In 2009-10, Rumble posted three goals and 16 assists (19 points). He was also plus-24.
Brown, also 20, was acquired earlier this month from the Chicago Hitmen, where he served as the team's captain. This season, Brown has scored a pair of goals to go along with 18 assists (20 points). Like Rumble, Brown is also a commodity on the man-advantage, where 13 of his 20 points have been recorded