Bunz Stellar in 3-1 Win vs. Allen

Wichita, KS (Nov. 29th) - Tyler Bunz made 33 saves including 13 in the second period, helping Wichita (8-6-1-2) skate past Allen (11-4-0-0) by the final score of 3-1 on Saturday night at INTRUST Bank Arena. Erick Lizon, celebrating his 29th birthday, scored his second game-winner of the week as the Thunder rattled off three unanswered goals en route to their third-straight win this week. Wichita is 1-2-0-0 against Allen with the next meeting taking place in the middle of December. With the win, Wichita moves into a third-place tie with the Quad City Mallards with 19 points.

Before the game even started, the two teams had some choice words with each other during warm-ups at the center line. That intensity would carry over in a phyiscal first period that had several post-whistle scrums. Allen scored the only goal of the first 20 minutes when Trevor Ludwig jumped into the play, glanced a shot off a Thunder player near the net and got past Bunz to make it 1-0.

In the second, Wichita didn't take long to even the score when Kenton Miller put a wrist shot past Riley Gill from the bottom of the right circle at 2:01. Six minutes later, Lizon picked up a missed shot off the end wall at the right post and buried it for his fourth of the season that would hold up as the eventual game-winner. The Americans had two power plays in the second period and had plenty of chances against the Thunder penalty killing unit. Bunz made several outstanding saves and got help from his teammates to keep the Allen power play unit at bay.

The Thunder salted the game away in the third period after killing off two Allen power plays early in the frame. Wtih four minutes remaining, Danick Gauthier tipped a pass around a defender in front of the Thunder bench, came down on a two-on-one and buried it past Gill for his seventh of the season and a 3-1 lead. Bunz held the fort down the stretch and Wichita skated away with the victory.

Wichita stretches its streak to three-straight while stopping the Allen winning streak at eight. Lizon has goals in three games in a row. Gauthier collected his seventh tally of the season and has points in the last three games (1g, 3a). Wichita was outshot for the first time since November 7th, stopping the team's streak at 10. Bunz earns his second win of the week and fourth of the season, stopping 33 of 34 shots. Gill suffers his third loss of the year, stopping 27 of 30 shots he faced.

Wichita went 0-for-5 on the power play. Allen was 0-for-5 as well with the man advantage.

Wichita finishes a busy week of four games in five nights tomorrow afternoon against the Tulsa Oilers starting at 5:05 p.m. Bring your winter clothing or coats to donate to charity tomorrow and recieve a free upper level ticket voucher that can be redeemed at the Thunder office for the game on Sunday, January 11th.

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-