BLAZERS LOSE 5-2 TO WILD
By Colton Davies – Follow Colton on X
The Kamloops Blazers welcomed the Wenatchee Wild to town Wednesday for a crucial matchup.
The opening period got off to a fast start. Just 20 seconds in, Oren Shtrom opened the scoring to make it 1-0 Blazers. Kamloops nearly doubled their lead when Harrison Brunicke chased the puck down behind Brendan Gee’s net and made a no-look backhand pass to Tommy Lafrenière, who was denied. Shortly after, following a turnover, Blazers’ Vit Zahejsky flew down the ice with speed and rang a shot off the crossbar.
The Blazers came out strong in the first five minutes, clearly determined to take control. Action at both ends kept play moving, with few whistles until the six-minute mark, when Wenatchee’s Dawson Seitz found the back of the net, beating Edmonstone to tie the game. The Wild briefly thought they had taken the lead, but after a review, the goal was disallowed due to goaltender interference.
The second period began with a hooking call that sent the Blazers to the power play. The first unit maintained strong puck control and generated several high-danger chances but couldn’t convert. Following some physical play between the teams, we saw two minutes of 4-on-4 action, during which veteran Evan Friesen ripped home a goal to give the Wild a 2-1 lead. Kamloops then had another power play opportunity, but a miscommunication proved costly. Isa Guram dropped the puck back to Jordan Keller, who wasn’t expecting it, allowing Luka Shcherbyna to steal it and wrap it around Edmonstone’s net, extending Wenatchee’s lead to two.
Kamloops entered the third period looking to battle back. Just five minutes in, Emmitt Finnie struck on a beautiful backhand, notching his 35th goal of the season and cutting the deficit to one. The Wild continued to pressure, crashing the net again, but for the second time, their goal was waved off. The back-and-forth action carried on, and Edmonstone came up with a massive save after a shot rang off the post and trickled behind him—just in time, he reached back and got his glove on it.
With two minutes remaining, the Blazers pulled their goalie in search of the equalizer, but it was Wenatchee who sealed the win, firing the puck down the ice into the empty net twice to seal the deal, 5-2.
The Blazers now look ahead to Saturday, when they will take the ice for Rebrand Night, playing as the Thompson Rivers Fighting Trouts for one night only.