The xGillette Wild survived a determined comeback attempt by the Yellowstone Quake on the way to a 4-2 win.
A goal by Andrii Istominov put xGillette up 4-1 in the third period, but Yellowstone pulled to within two on Mike McCullen\’s tally 11:23 into the third period.
Istominov had two goals and one assist to lead the Wild. Istominov scored the first of his two goals short handed at 15:16 into the second period to make the score 3-0 xGillette. xGillette played down a man on Tyler Reble\’s tripping. Istominov\’s next tally short handed made the score xGillette with 9:08 left in the third period.
The Wild were often in penalty trouble, totaling six minors and one major for 27 minutes in penalty time. xGillette surpassed its season average of 21.0 penalty minutes per game. The Wild stifled the Quake\’s power play, and did not give up a single goal while down a man. xGillette\’s offense rang up 39 shots on Yellowstone\’s net.
Others who scored for xGillette included Bryce Mitzel and Dalton McCann, who scored one goal each. More assists for xGillette came via Shane Brown, Alex King, and Darren Banks, who contributed one a piece.
The Quake put up an impenetrable defensive front on the penalty kill, and did not allow the Wild to score on any of their six power plays. Yellowstone forced xGillette goalie Josh Beatty to work between the pipes, taking 45 shots.
In addition, Yellowstone received assists from Jimmy Tich, who had one and Sawyer Scanlan, who had two.
Josh Beatty made 43 saves for the Wild on 45 shots. For xGillette, Nick Mead was ejected from the game. The Quake\’s Rocco Yapello stopped 35 shots out of the 39 that he faced. Yellowstone incurred 20 minutes in penalty time with five minors.