Two of the WHL’s top goaltenders went head-to-head in Wenatchee on Friday night as the two clubs opened a home-and-home series, with Tri-City set to host the rematch on Saturday. Unfortunately for the Americans, the December struggles continued, as they dropped their fourth straight game, falling 3–2 to the Wenatchee Wild.

First Period

Grady Wedman opened the scoring halfway through the first period with his second goal of the season to give Wenatchee a 1–0 lead.

Zane Torre dug the puck free from behind the net and centered it to Wedman at the bottom of the slot, where he one-timed it past Xavier Wendt.

That would be the lone goal of the opening frame, as Wenatchee carried the 1–0 advantage into the second.

Second Period

Four minutes into the second, Tobias Tvrznik made one of the saves of the night to keep Tri-City off the board.

Connor Dale spun quickly in the slot and fired a shot on goal. Cruz Pavao jumped on the rebound in the blue paint, but Tvrznik stretched out his left pad to deny him and preserve the one-goal lead.

Moments later, Wenatchee doubled its lead off a Tri-City turnover at center ice. Dawson Seitz gained entry into the Americans’ zone and chipped the puck to Nolan Caffey along the left wing. Caffey quickly found Caelan Joudrey alone in the low slot, and Joudrey snapped a wrist shot glove side past Wendt to make it 2–0.

The response from Tri-City came quickly. Less than a minute later, David Krcal pulled the Americans back within one.

Gavin Garland chipped the puck along the boards to the left point, where Krcal stepped into a long wrist shot that slipped through Tvrznik five-hole for his third goal of the season.

Late in the period, Joudrey struck again to restore Wenatchee’s two-goal cushion. A point shot left the puck sitting in front of the Tri-City net, and after David Byrne couldn’t fully corral it, Joudrey charged in and buried it from close range to make it 3–1 heading into the third.

Third Period

Tri-City made things interesting early in the final frame. Ismail Abogouche scored his second goal of the season to cut the deficit to one.

Crew Martinson drove the net, and Tvrznik managed to stick the puck into the near corner. Grady Martin was the first to it andzipped a pass to Abogouche at the top of the crease, where he one-timed it home.

Late in the game, with the Tri-City net empty, Savin Virk had a chance on the backdoor but couldn’t get a clean look, and time expired.

After the final horn, chaos broke out along the near boards as all skaters on the ice—aside from the goaltenders—engaged in a large shoving match, setting the stage for what will be an entertaining rematch Saturday night.

Post Game/What’s Next

Tri-City has now lost four straight games, with offense proving hard to come by. The Americans have scored just five goals during the four-game skid and have slipped to ninth place in a tightly packed Western Conference.

One bright spot has been Grady Martin, who is quietly off to the best start of his WHL career. With six points in 13 games, Martin is on pace for 24 points this season—more than double his previous career high of 10 set with Prince Albert in 2023–24.

Tri-City will look to bounce back in the rematch Saturday night at the Toyota Center. The Americans will also be wearing their Specialty Night Snoopy jerseys as part of a holiday celebration, with puck drop set for 6:05 p.m.