Winterhawks Swoop In, Snare 6-5 Overtime Win at Wild Friday

WENATCHEE – Good things usually come in threes, but the Wenatchee Wild are trusting that a better fate is on the horizon than the one that found them Friday at Town Toyota Center.

For the third straight game, the Wild closed out their evening in overtime, and the Portland Winterhawks pulled up from behind and prevailed for a 6-5 victory. Friday’s game marked the first time since March of 2022 that the Western Hockey League club had been to overtime in three straight outings, sending Wenatchee to an 18-28-6-1 record for the year. Portland rose to 29-19-2-1 on the season.

The Wild pushed the lead out to a pair on four separate occasions, starting with a pair of breakaway goals – 8:08 into the contest, Luka Shcherbyna took off with the puck and rifled home a shot from the right circle for the 1-0 lead. With 5:26 to go in the period and just seconds into a Wenatchee penalty kill, Tye Spencer ran away and drove the puck to the front of the net, tossing a backhand chance past Ondrej Stebetak for a 2-0 lead.

However, the Winterhawks responded on that same power play – 40 seconds later, Kyle Chyzowski tipped in a shot from Tyson Jugnauth at the left point, putting Portland within one. The Winterhawks would be two goals away at the break, thanks to a backdoor wrist shot from Reid Andresen, off a pass from Radoslav Dimitrov with 94 seconds on the first-period clock.

1:44 into the second period, Alex Weiermair cut into the lead with a redirect at the front of the goal, but Miles Cooper entered the score sheet at 6:16 off a backdoor rebound following a shot from Lukas McCloskey to give the Wild another two-goal advantage. Jordan Duguay looked to have given the visitors some momentum going to the dressing room with a marker at 16:08 of the period, but Cooper scored his second 4-on-4 goal of the period with 1:13 to go, hurling home a shot from the bottom of the left-wing circle to put Wenatchee ahead 5-3.

Portland took command of the final 20-plus minutes, halving the lead on a deflection from Carsyn Dyck at 2:48 of the third and erasing the lead on Kyle Chyzowski’s backside rebound with 6:43 to go in regulation. Josh Zakreski finished off the night with a throw from the right-wing circle at 2:34 of overtime, completing the comeback on the only shot on goal in overtime for either team.

Chyzowski’s two goals and two assists led all scorers, and headlined a quintet of Portland players with multiple points in the game. The Wild were led by Andresen’s goal and two assists, while Cooper closed out the night with his pair of 4-on-4 tallies. Stebetak earned his 18th win of the season behind 25 saves, while Alex Garrett returned from a four-week stretch on the injured list with 19 saves. Shcherbyna extended his point streak to four straight games, while Andresen earned his 100th career assist by setting up Cooper’s first goal.

The overtime point pulled the Wild into a tie with the Seattle Thunderbirds for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot, though the Thunderbirds hold the tiebreaker by virtue of their percentage points in the standings and two additional wins. Wenatchee’s home weekend continues Sunday for its Teacher Appreciation Night contest against the Thunderbirds, presented by Gesa Credit Union. The opening puck drop at Town Toyota Center is scheduled for 4 p.m.

2025-26 season tickets are now on sale – for more information, call 509-888-7825, or visit the team office at Town Toyota Center. Updated news and information on Wild hockey are always available through the team’s website and on the team’s social media platforms on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.