Wild shuts out Brown Bears

WENATCHEE - Goaltender Nick Kulmanovsky (Fairbanks, Alaska) earned his first shutout in a Wenatchee Wild sweater, leading his team to a 3-0 victory over the visiting Kenai River Brown Bears Saturday night at the Town Toyota Center.

After a scoreless first period, the Wild scored its first goal at 12:36 of the second frame during a power play when Michael Di Puma (Chicago, Ill.) redirected Chris Rumble's (Chesapeake, Va.) wrister from the near point into the net. Eliot Grauer (Mukioteo, Wash.) picked up the second assist. D.J. Vandercook (Farmington Hills, Mich.) gave the Wild a 2-goal lead 91 seconds later when he picked up the puck in the slot and beat Kenai River goalie Mathias Dahlstrom 5-hole with a backhander. Carl-Johan Sjogren (Tumba, Sweden) and Shawn Pauly (Bellingham, Wash.) assisted.

Sjogren scored Wenatchee's final goal of the game during a man-advantage with 3:59 remaining in regulation when he put back a shot by Pauly. Sjogren led the Wild with a goal and an assist while Pauly recorded two assists.

Kulmanovsky stopped all 16 shots that he faced to earn his first shutout with the Wild and improve his record to 4-2. Dahlstrom made 32 saves on 35 shots but was charged with his ninth loss of the season. Wenatchee scored two power-play goals on six chances while Kenai River went 0-for-2 on the man-advantage.

The Wild (22-14-2) will travel to Fresno, Calif., next weekend (Jan. 21-22) for a two-game series against the Monsters. Both games will begin at 7:35 p.m.