Wild rally past Tri-City 5-2 in preseason finale

KENNEWICK — The Wenatchee Wild scored five consecutive goals to rally from an early two-goal deficit and defeat the Tri-City Americans 5-2 on Sunday afternoon at Toyota Center in the preseason finale for both teams.

Kalen Miles had a goal and an assist, while Grady Wedman recorded two assists for Wenatchee. Goaltender Carsten Leyerzapf stopped all 20 shots he faced over the final two periods to preserve the victory.

Tri-City took a 1-0 lead at 4:29 of the opening period when Owen Kraft scored on a chance from the slot. Ryan Gibbs added another goal with 18 seconds remaining in the period to give the Americans a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Wenatchee cut the deficit to one 98 seconds into the second period when Miles scored from just to the left of Tri-City goaltender Karter Gibson.

The Wild tied the game two minutes later after a Tri-City icing. Mathias Silaban scored directly off a faceoff win by Alexandre Andre, beating Gibson to make it 2-2.

Boston Tait gave Wenatchee the lead midway through the period after intercepting a Tri-City outlet pass along the wall. Tait carried the puck to the top of the right-wing circle and scored on a wrist shot.

The Wild added two goals in the third period. Kayden Longley scored on a sharp-angle power-play chance at 3:08, with the puck taking a favorable bounce to extend Wenatchee's lead to 4-2.

Rui Han completed the scoring with an empty-net goal with 1:01 remaining.

Leyerzapf finished with 33 saves, including 20 over the final 40 minutes. Gibson made 29 saves for Tri-City.

Wenatchee went 1-for-5 on the power play and killed all four of Tri-City's power-play opportunities.

Eleven Wild players recorded at least one point. Tate Hardacre added an assist and finished the preseason tied with Riley Brown for the team lead with five points.

Wenatchee opens the 2026-27 Western Hockey League regular season Saturday against the Seattle Thunderbirds at Town Toyota Center. The game, which also serves as the Wild's home opener, is scheduled for a 6 p.m. puck drop.