Thunder Offense Lights Up Allen On New Year's Eve

ALLEN, TX (Dec. 31) – Wichita exploded for seven goals on New Year's Eve and raced past Allen with a 7-3 victory at Credit Union of Texas Event Center. 

Michal Stinil recorded his first professional hat trick while Brayden Watts and Quinn Preston each had two points. Evan Buitenhuis stopped 32 shots to earn his 11th win of the season. 

Stinil put the Thunder on the board midway through the first. He tallied his 13th of the season on the power play with a wrist shot from the left circle. 

Jared Bethune deflected a shot from Kris Myllari at 18:03 to tie the game. Myllari fired a shot from the left point that hit Bethune's hip and clanked off the post for his second of the season. 

Early in the second, Stinil recorded his second of the night. Preston stole the puck near the penalty boxes. He fed a pass across over to Stinil just inside the line and he hammered a shot past Flodell to make it 2-1. 

Colton Hargrove tied it four minutes later with a shorthanded tally. He created a turnover near the Allen line, came in on a breakaway and beat Buitenhuis for his fifth of the year. 

Just 43 seconds after Hargrove scored, Timur Ibragimov started a run of goals for Wichita. Billy Constantinou found him across the slot and he fired a one-timer past Flodell to make it 3-2. His goal sparked the Thunder, who scored five of the next six.

Stinil tallied his hat trick marker at 11:11 when he found a loose a puck near the red line. He came in on a two-on-one and beat Flodell to the short-side and made it 4-2. 

Allen capitalized on a five-on-three when Cole MacDonald and Dylan MacPherson were whistled for consecutive tripping minors. Jack Combs pounced on a rebound at 16:10 near the right post and made it 4-3. 

At 17:40, Watts fired a one-timer off the rush to re-gain a three-goal lead and chased Flodell from the game. 

Dickman and Sam Sternschein added goals in the third to help Wichita split the weekend set with a 7-3 win. 

The Thunder improved to 5-3-1 in the season-series against the Americans and 17-10-4 on New Year's Eve.

Wichita went 2-for 5 on the power play and has at least two power play goals in five of the last six games. The Thunder have scored on the man advantage in six-straight contests. Wichita has also scored at least five goals in five of the last six.

Stinil moved into a second-place tie in the league with Watts as each has 38 points. His hat trick is just the second recorded by a Thunder player since 2019-20 and first since last season when Alex Peters tallied three goals on March 28 against Allen. 

Preston returned to the lineup after missing Friday's game and extended his point-streak to 12. He has two or more points in his last three outings. Dickman has goals in five-straight. MacDonald has points in his last six and assists over his last three. Ibragimov has points in four-straight.

Wichita returns home on Wednesday. January 4 to host Idaho for three-straight.

Join us on January 4 for Winning Wednesday, presented by Ollie's Bargain Outlet. Get four goal zone tickets and a $20 gift card to Ollie's for just $40. The gift cards are limited to the first 50 packages purchased. To buy tickets, click here.

Single game tickets are on sale now. Fans can purchase tickets online here, at the Select-A-Seat Box Office at INTRUST Bank Arena or by calling the Thunder office at 316-264-4625.

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