Wild jump out to five-goal lead, jump into eighth place with 6-1 win Tuesday

WENATCHEE – New Year’s Eve games at Town Toyota Center have become a bit of a staple of life in the Wenatchee Valley lately. Over the last few weeks, the win column has become a familiar place to find the Wenatchee Wild as well.

Wenatchee jumped out to a five-goal lead after two periods on Tuesday evening, earning a 6-1 win over the Kelowna Rockets in Western Hockey League play and jumping into eighth place in the Western Conference standings as the calendar flips to 2025. The Wild closed out December with wins in four of their last five games of the calendar year, including victories against the top two teams on the western side of the WHL map. Tuesday’s game marked the fourth straight year that the Wild have hosted a New Year’s Eve game, with Wenatchee bumping its mark to 6-1-1 all-time at Town Toyota Center on December 31.

The first four goals came in pairs, starting with a toss from Eastyn Mannix at the right point 14:07 into the game. The shot found its way cleanly to the net, giving the Wild the only advantage they’d need. Wenatchee doubled its lead in transition just 35 seconds later, getting the eventual difference-maker on a short-side shot from Caelan Joudrey on the right wing.

The next pair came on the power play just 72 seconds apart in the second period – with time winding down on a Kanjyu Gojsic slashing infraction, Kenta Isogai hammered home a second chance deep down the right wing to put the Wild ahead 3-0 just 4:33 out of the break. At 5:45, just 32 seconds into a cross-checking penalty to Jacob Henderson, Dawson Seitz tunneled one to the net from the top of the slot to put Wenatchee ahead by four.

They would lead by five at the intermission, though – with 8:47 left in the period, Zane Saab sent a pass out front from below the goal line, and Maddix McCagherty whirled a shot past Jake Pilon from just inside the faceoff circle to make it a 5-0 game.

Each team notched a goal in the final 20 minutes – Kelowna’s only goal of the night came on the power play, as Hiroki Gojsic hurled home a wrist shot from the right-wing circle 1:39 into the third to bust up the shutout. However, the Wild got that goal back thanks to Lukas McCloskey, who jammed a puck under Rhett Stoesser at the 6:10 mark.

13 different Wild players scored points in the game, including a goal and an assist apiece from Joudrey, Isogai and McCagherty. Daniel Hauser made 13 saves in the first period to earn the win, followed by a 16-for-17 performance from Brendan Gee in relief. Pilon took the loss with six saves on 11 Wild shots, while Stoesser made 14 saves in relief for the Rockets.

The Wild were 2-for-4 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill, posting a power play goal for the fifth consecutive game. Wenatchee closes out the calendar year with a 13-17-3-1 mark, while Kelowna sits at 13-17-2-1 heading into the new year. With their eighth-place position in the Western Conference standings, the Wild sit a point above the Rockets and two above the 10th-place Kamloops Blazers. Seventh-place Vancouver is eight points above the Wild, but only four points separate the fourth- and seventh-place teams.

A three-game road weekend awaits Wenatchee, starting with a visit to Vancouver on Friday. The opening puck drop at Langley Events Centre is scheduled for 7 p.m., with live coverage on Newsradio 560 KPQ and WHL Live. The Wild return home to face the Victoria Royals on Friday, January 10 for Grandparents’ Night presented by Papa Murphy’s. Tickets for that game and all regular-season home games are on sale now by phone at 509-888-7825, or by visiting 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.