Wild sweep Kenai River Brown Bears

Wenatchee Wild hockey

by Submitted Ed Topoleski
| February 25, 2012 5:00 AM

SOLDOTNA, Alaska - The Wenatchee Wild concluded their 6-game Alaskan road trip in style Saturday.

Four different players scored unanswered second-period goals for the Wild en route to a 5-2 victory over the Kenai River Brown Bears at the Soldotna Sports Center.

The win gave the Wild a sweep in their 2-game set against the Brown Bears after a 3-1 win Friday in the first game of the series.

Kenai River broke a scoreless tie with 4:02 remaining in the first period when Marek Hensky scored on a rebound during a delayed penalty.

Brett Lubanski and Chris Blessing assisted. The Brown Bears got a huge lift with one second left in the first frame when Raymond Stenehjem scored a short-handed marker during a 2-on-2 entrance into the Wild zone.

Bobby Murphy and Vincent Stefan picked up the assists.

The Wild scored four unanswered even-strength goals in the second period. Matt Cope started the goal spree 2:27 into the frame when he buried a wrist shot from the left wing, picking the top far corner.

Michael Lant set up the goal on his pass to Cope at the blue line. Chris Kerr also assisted.

Max McHugh tied up the contest near the middle of the second stanza.

After a turnover in the neutral zone, Jacob Barber skated around a defender on a 2-on-1 and slid the puck to McHugh on his backhand for the tap-in. Shawn Pauly picked up the second assist.

The Wild took their first lead with 7:26 left in the second period when Jerad Tafoya, who recently returned to the lineup, banged home his seventh goal of the season after an extended stay in the offensive zone. Evan Schmidbauer and Lant assisted.

Tyler Rostenkowski notched his first goal in a Wild sweater less than a minute after Tafoya's marker on a wrister from the blue line.

Parker Johnson and Blake Saylor earned the helpers.

Barber added an empty-netter from Saylor and Lant with 1:51 remaining in regulation. Barber notched six points (5G, 1A) and was plus-3 during the Wild's road trip.

Robert Nichols made 21 saves on 23 shots for his second win in as many days.

Austin Severson made 17 saves on 21 shots and was tagged with the loss in a little more than 35 minutes of work. Gabe Grunwald stopped all seven shots he saw in relief of Severson.

Lant tallied a playmaker (3A) and was plus-4. Barber notched two points (1G, 1A) while Saylor had two assists. Neither team scored on the power play. Wenatchee went 0-for-3 while Kenai River went 0-for-5.

The Wild (26-15-5) will host the Topeka Road Runners Feb. 24 and 25. Both games are scheduled to begin at 7:05 p.m.