Wenatchee Wild Shut Out Langley Rivermen

The Wenatchee Wild put together a solid sixty minutes of hockey on Saturday night, and were rewarded with a 3-0 shutout victory on the road over the Langley Rivermen at George Preston Recreation Centre.

The Wild peppered the leagues leading goaltender with 14 first period shots, but it was the last one that found the back of the net. On a late power play, Ryan Wilson threaded a wrist shot from the blue that Lucas Sowder tipped on target, but the Rivermen goalie was in position. Sticking with the play and following his shot, Sowder golfed at the rebound and chipped it over the arm under the crossbar, giving Wenatchee a 1-0 at the end of the first. The second period was also controlled largely by the Wild, outshooting Langley 11-3 but Braedon Fleming had an answer for all of them and the Wild lead of 1-0 stood intact after two. Wenatchee got some breathing room when Blake Bargar backhanded a centering feed from the left corner to Josh Arnold in the slot who quickly snapped it home in traffic for a 2-0 lead midway through the third. AJ Hodges added an empty net goal late for the final 3-0 score. Austin Park stopped 14 shots to earn the win, his first regular season shutout for Wenatchee. He did have three in last season’s playoffs. Murphy Stratton missed half of the game following an ejection for a second period altercation.

Wenatchee (6-6-1) returns home Friday and Saturday for a pair of games against the Merritt Centennials (8-6-0). The games will be available for video streaming on HockeyTV. Friday’s game will be broadcast live on “NewsRadio 560 KPQ” and Saturday’s game on “Sports Radio 1340 The Hawk” with the Pregame Show each night airing at 6:45 pm. The series marks the beginning of a five-game homestand. The Wild play 9 of their next 10 at Town Toyota Center.