Balanced Scoring Paces Thunder to 4-2 Win

Moline , IL (Jan. 28th) - Four different players found the back of the net on Wednesday night as Wichita (20-15-2-4) skated to a 4-2 win over Quad City (18-15-4-4) at I-Wireless Center. The Thunder scored three in the second before the Mallards got on the board in the third. Wichita moves four points ahead of Quad City in second place and improves to 4-1-1-0 in the season-series. The two teams will face each other on Friday night in Wichita for the second of four games over the next two weeks.

Eric Meland and Kenton Miller each had two points while Danick Gauthier, Todd Hosmer, Kirill Tulupov and Nikita Kashirsky found the back of the net. Tim Boron earns his 14th win of the season, improving to 2-0-1-0 against the Mallards this season.

The only scoring in the first period came early when Meland fired a wrist shot from the left point that fooled Evan Mosher after getting tipped out of the air by Gauthier and got past him at 1:13 to make it 1-0. Quad City almost tied the game a few minutes later as Jeff Lee found a seam down the middle of the ice, but lifted a shot off the post and play continued. The goal light came on, but the official was right near the net and waived it off.

Wichita added to the lead with three goals in the second. At 8:03, Kashirsky came up the right wing and whistled one past Mosher to make it 2-0. Quad City tried to answer on the very next shift as the play went end-to-end and Tim Boron stood his ground on a shot from Justin Fox. At 15:27, Hosmer caught an outlet pass from Michael Trebish and beat Mosher under the glove for his 15th of the season. Tulupov capped off the scoring with a power play goal with under five seconds left in the period and the Thunder led 4-0 heading into the final frame.

In the third, Joe Perry connected for two goals in a three-minute span to cut into the Wichita lead. At 4:13, he scored his first on the power play. His second came at 7:29 after he walked out of the corner and popped a shot through traffic past Boron to make it 4-2. That would do it for the scoring as Boron held the fort down the stretch.

Wichita won its 20th game of the season and got back to .500 with its ninth road win of the year. Hosmer has goals in six-straight games. Miller collected two helpers and has points in his last four games (2g, 4a). Gauthier has goals in back-to-back games and recorded his 17th of the season. Boron earned the victory, stopping 38 of 40 shots. Mosher took the loss, stopping 18 of 22 shots he faced.

Wichita went 1-for-6 on the power play. Quad City was 2-for-5 with the man advantage.

Wichita returns home for the first time in two weeks to take on Quad City at 7:05 p.m.

Individual tickets are on sale now. Don't delay! Tickets can be purchased at the INTRUST Arena Box office, by calling 755-SEAT or go online at www.selectaseat.com. Stay up-to-date on all the news during the season by visiting www.wichitathunder.com.

About the ECHL

The ECHL began in 1988-89 with five teams in four states and has grown into a coast-to-coast league with 28 teams in 20 states and one Canadian province for its 27th season in 2014-15. There have been 541 players who have started their career in the ECHL have gone on to play in the National Hockey League, including 29 who made their NHL debuts in the 2013-14 season. The ECHL had affiliations with 26 of the 30 NHL teams in 2013-14, marking the 17th consecutive season that the league had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL. Further information on the ECHL is available on its website at ECHL.com, as well as on Twitter and Facebook.

-Thunder-