Defenceman Chad Sasaki is better known for his silky, smooth skating and puck handling than scoring goals for the Wenatchee Wild.
Sasaki, who registered one goal as a rookie and yielded nine this season, pocketed the biggest snipe of his life Friday night, his tally at 3:09 of the second sudden-death period giving the Wenatchee Wild a drama-jammed 3-2 win over the Vernon Vipers before 2,446 raucous fans at Kal Tire Place.
The Wild own a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven B.C. Hockey League quarterfinal series and host Game 6 Saturday night at the Town Toyota Center, where they held the circuit’s best home record.
The Vipers will welcome back captain and sparkplug centre Jagger Williamson from a two-game suspension.
Captain AJ Vanderbeck and Lucas Sowder nicely worked the puck past the Vernon blue line with Sasaki retrieving a rebound off the back boards and one-timing a shot past goalie Ty Taylor.
Sasaki, 20, jumpstarted his career by playing roller hockey in California as a tyke. He doesn’t recall ever being an overtime hero, real or imagined.
“Honestly, I had blacked out a little bit (on the goal),” said the 5-foot-7, 165-pound Colorado College Tigers’ commit. “I just saw it come at my stick and I just swing as hard as I could and I saw it squeak in; it was unbelievable. It’s been a while for sure (since he scored), but I don’t think a lot of guys got enough credit tonight. It was a character win, a team effort up and down the lineup. We’re going to enjoy it for sure and hopefully take care of business at home tomorrow night.”
Sasaki gave major props to the depleted Vipers, who went with three lines and six d-men. Vernon struck iron five times as they caused multiple turnovers by the Wild while pressing extra hard.
“They’re been great all series. It’s been back and forth. I think both teams are pretty exhausted at this point. You’ve gotta respect your opponent every night no matter what.”
Lucas Sowder put the Wild in front 4:14 after the national anthems, taking a nifty pass from league MVP Jasper Weatherby, cutting to the net and going top cheddar after the Vipers failed to clear the puck out of the zone.
Jordan Sandhu equalized 16 seconds later from in tight when he banged in a rebound after a shot by Derek Brown was blocked by netminder Austin Park.
A few minutes later, Taylor went cross crease in a hurry and got his left skate on a wrap-a-round try by Weatherby, who was held pointless in Games 1 and 2 mainly due to smothering by Williamson.
Park delivered a stellar stop from five feet on Connor Marritt after d-men Cooper Zech and Zak Galambos got their wires crossed.
Weatherby gave Wenatchee the lead at 16:34 on a knuckler from the right ringette line that Taylor knocked in off his own blocker.
Viper Michael Ufberg nailed the crossbar from the right point, while dee partner Michael Young struck the post from the left side 25 seconds apart on a late powerplay.
The Wild outshot the Vipers 17-8 in the opening 20 minutes.
Winger Niko Karamanis hit the left post early in the second stanza after a sweet pass by blueliner Chris Jandric, while 10 seconds later, it was Keyvan Mokhtari’s turn to strike the right post.
Mohktari rattled a shot off the crossbar, while Alex Swetlikoff and a few other Vipers enjoyed Grade A scoring chances on a crazy fray in front of Park. The Wild temporarily looked like they had learned to play defence by correspondence but the Vipers couldn’t capitalize.
A zany bounce came to Viper winger Josh Latta shortly after with no defenders in sight and he whiffed, sending the puck to the far sidewall.
Ufberg had a hard blast blocked by rearguard Slava Demin’s skate after a beauty feed by Jimmy Lambert, while Mohktari walked right in the crease only to be stuffed low by Park. Jandric’s shot through traffic just missed with 11 seconds to play and Taylor on the bench for an extra attacked.
Zech softly curled a clearing pass down the ice like a comma, but it went for icing, creating a face-off in the right circle with three seconds remaining. Brown won the draw to Lambert in the high slot and he fed d-man Cameron Trott at the left point. Trott hammered a shot which beat Park along the side to force overtime.
The Vipers had one goal disallowed 4:50 into the first OT, but it was clearly a case where the goal judge accidentally flashed the red light during a mad scramble. Sasaki’s winner was Wenatchee’s 10th shot of overtime.
Weatherby, 20, said he and other veterans tried to settle the young Wild down after Trott’s goal by telling them to blank out the past and focus on the overtime.
“That’s hockey. Crazy stuff happens. If you get down on yourself and the room starts to shut down, you’re not doing yourself any good. So keep it up and get the next one.”
The Oregon power forward was stoked to see Sasaki get mobbed by his teammates.
“That guy works so hard and is one of the humblest guys on the team. No one better to get it than him. I’m so glad for him.”
Viper head coach Mark Ferner said his crew went the extra mile but couldn’t buy any puck luck. He praised the fans for their major support,
“I’m extremely proud of the way our guys fought to the end,” said Ferner. “It was awesome to be able to score with that much time left to tie the hockey game up and this place went nuts, good on our fans no question about it. I know our kids love playing in front of that many fans. Tomorrow, we just have to get a great effort and get another healthy body in Jags. It’s unfortunate we’re not completely healthy but that’s part of the game too. It’s disappointing and our kids are disappointed, but they have nothing to be ashamed about. They played extremely extremely hard.”
Vernon centre Brett Stapley, who suffered a concussion in Game 3, is questionable for Game 6.
Elsewhere, Levi Glassman bagged a deuce as the Trail Smoke Eaters shaded the Penticton Vees 4-3 before 3,449 fans at the South Okanagan Events Centre. The Smokies lead the series 3-2.
