Dufour's Career Night Paces Thunder Past Oilers

Tulsa, OK (Jan. 10th) - Wichita headed on the road for the first time in 2018 and earned a 5-3 victory over Tulsa on Wednesday night at the BOK Center.

Kevin Dufour had a career-night, scoring twice and assisting on two others while Mark MacMillan returned to the line-up and added three points. Shane Starrett made 48 saves and won his 12th game of the season.

Dyson Stevenson got the scoring started 4:25 into the first period. He took a pass across the crease from Dufour and recorded his 10th of the year. Tulsa answered with a power play goal just over a minute later. Conner Bleackley fired a one-timer from the slot and beat Starrett to tie the game at one. Evan Polei notched his seventh of the year at 17:16 to re-gain the lead for the Thunder. He caught a pass across the zone from Jeremy Beaudry and wired one just under the bar.

Ryan Tesink scored against his former team in the second period and tied the game at two. He stole the puck near the Oilers line, came down on a two-on-one and beat Starrett with a wrist shot. MacMillan made it 3-2 at 16:07 as he cut through the slot, found a rebound and banged it past Jake Hildebrand.

In the third, Dufour scored back-to-back goals to extend the lead to 5-2. His first came at 8:28 with a wrist shot from the left circle. His second came at 14:46 as he intercepted a pass near the Thunder line, broke free and beat Hildebrand. Adam Pleskach recorded his 11th of the year at 18:58 to make it 5-3. Tulsa pulled Hildebrand in the final minute, but the Thunder held on for the win.

Dufour extended his point-streak to eight games (6g, 6a) and netted his second two-goal outing of the season. He was also a +5, tying a season-high. MacMillan finished with a goal and two assists, re-gaining the team-lead in points with 27 (14g, 13a). Stevenson has goals in back-to-back games and needs one more to set a new career-high.

Wichita went 0-for-3 on the power play. Tulsa was 2-for-3 on the man advantage.

The Thunder returns home for a pair of games starting Friday night against the Utah Grizzlies.

Join us this Tuesday night as we host our first Malcolm Cameron Coaches Show of 2018. The show originates from Bubba's 33 on the east side of Wichita from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

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