Early Lead Helps Beast Get Past Thunder

Brampton, ON (Dec. 5th) - In just their fourth-ever trip to the Powerade Centre, Wichita (8-7-1-3) couldn't overcome an early deficit and lost to Brampton (7-7-1-0) by the final score of 4-1 on Friday night. Despite outshooting the Beast by a wide margin, the Thunder never led in the contest and drop to 2-3-1-2 on the road. Kyle Gibbons scored in his Wichita debut, which cut the lead to one in the second period. Wichita is 0-1-0-0 against Brampton and will face the Beast tomorrow afternoon.

Brampton got off to a quick start, scoring twice in 2:21. Mike MacIssac recorded his fifth of the season at 4:05 when he banked a shot off the skate of Tyler Bunz from along the goal line. Chad Painchaud increased the lead to 2-0 at 6:44 when his slapshot from the top of the left circle got through Bunz for his fourth of the season. The Thunder had their chances in the first, but Trevor Cann shut the door. Jared Walker and RG Flath came down on a shorthanded break, but Cann made a blocker save. With just seconds remaining in the first, Danick Gauthier had a one-timer snatched out of the air by Cann to send the contest to the intermisson.

The only goal of the second came from newcomer Gibbons at 10:14 to get the Thunder on the board. Gibbons came from behind the net and lifed a wrist shot past Cann for his first of the season. The Thunder had the ice tilted, only allowing five shots on net while unloading 18 in the frame.

Brampton re-gained a two-goal advantage early in the third on the power play. Rob Ricci scored from just infront of the crease at 1:44 for his second of the year. Wichita desparetly tried to get back in the game and pulled Bunz with less than three minutes for the extra attacker. Tyson Fawcett tracked down a loose puck in the neutral zone and scored to make it 4-1.

Miller and Duval collect assists to keep their point-streaks alive, now at four games. Gibbons scored in his first game since signing earlier this week, which is also his first goal as a pro. Bunz takes the loss, stopping 24 of 27 shots. Cann claims his fifth win of the season, stopping 45 of 46 shots he faced.

Wichita went 0-for-4 on the power play. Brampton was 1-for-4 with the man advantage.

Wichita remains in Brampton for a 1 p.m. CST tilt tomorrow afternoon before heading to Elmira, NY to close out the weekend for their first-ever meeting with the Jackals.

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-