Wild drop back-to-back games to Penticton

WENATCHEE - The Wenatchee Wild dropped a pair of Western Hockey League games to the Penticton Vees over the weekend, falling 4-1 Friday in Penticton, British Columbia, before a 5-3 loss Saturday at Town Toyota Center.

The defeats pushed Wenatchee to 23-34-3-2 on the season as the Vees improved to 41-13-4-4 and secured three wins in four meetings between the clubs this year.

Friday’s matchup at the South Okanagan Events Centre saw Penticton control play early, firing the game’s first 17 shots and outshooting the Wild 20-3 in the opening period. Wenatchee goaltender Cal Conway stopped the first 23 attempts he faced before the Vees broke through in the second period.

Louis Wehmann opened the scoring at 4:51 of the second on a rebound and added a second goal later in the period. Jacob Kvasnicka also scored in the middle frame to give Penticton a 3-0 lead.

Matteo Danis extended the advantage to 4-0 at 6:45 of the third period before Wenatchee avoided the shutout late. Levi Benson tapped in a chance at the post with 5:45 remaining after Josh Toll was tripped in the crease. Luka Shcherbyna also assisted on the goal.

Conway finished with 38 saves in the loss. Toll and Shcherbyna each extended point streaks to four games with assists on Benson’s goal.

The teams met again Saturday in Wenatchee, where the Wild scored first but could not hold the lead in a 5-3 defeat.

Mason Kraft opened the scoring at 8:51 of the first period on a power-play wrist shot off a cross-slot pass from Toll during a two-man advantage.

Penticton answered later in the period with three goals. Danis tied the game at 12:11, Callum Stone gave the Vees the lead 29 seconds later and Wehmann added another with 1:48 remaining in the period to make it 3-1.

Wenatchee rallied early in the second. Caelan Joudrey scored at 3:07 to cut the deficit to one, and Aiden Grossklaus tipped a shot from Toll 59 seconds later to tie the game.

The Vees regained the lead midway through the second when Tristan Petersen scored shortly after Wenatchee goaltender Tobias Tvrznik left the game due to injury. Wehmann added his second goal of the night at 5:54 of the third period to complete the scoring.

Toll led all players with three assists, marking his sixth three-point game with the Wild this season and extending his point streak to five games. Benson recorded two assists.

Reyelts stopped all 11 shots he faced in relief of Ethan McCallum for Penticton to earn the win, while Conway stopped 22 of 24 shots after replacing Tvrznik.