Early Lead Propels Mavericks Past Thunder

Wichita, KS (Nov. 9th) - Missouri (4-3-0-0) raced out to a two-goal lead on Sunday afternoon and would not allow the Thunder (2-3-1-1) to come from behind, losing 5-2 at INTRUST Bank Arena in front of 6,054. Kenton Miller finished with both goals for the Thunder in the losing effort. Wichita is now even in the Independence Cup series (1-1-0-0) and will face the Mavericks a week from today in the Air Capital.

The Mavericks scored twice in the first period and jumped out to a 2-0 advantage. Brandon Hynes fired a one-timer from the right circle past Tyler Bunz to make it 1-0 in favor of Missouri. Less than two minutes later, Kellan Tochkin won a race to a lose puck after Bunz came out of the net to play it and Tochkin snuck it in the short side to increase the lead to 2-0. Wichita got on the board at 16:45 when Ian Lowe's shot from the right circle on the power play was tipped past John Griggs.

In the second period, the only goal was scored by Andrew Courtney. Lindsay Sparks made a great play down the wing and got a pass through a sliding defenseman to Courtney who one-timed it in to re-gain a two-goal lead. Wichita outshot Missouri 16-12 in the second, but still trailed 3-1 after two.

The Thunder dominated the third period and had several chances to pull even. After Scott Langdon was whistled for a hit to the head and sent off for five minutes, the Thunder were able to cash in and cut the lead to one. Kirill Tulupov, making his debut, fed a nice pass across to Miller and he scored to make it a 3-2 margin. Wichita was all over the Missouri defense and almost tied it several times. RG Flath found himself all alone against Griggs, but was unable to get a backhand through the five hole of Griggs. Evan Vossen would seal it for the Mavericks with two goals in a span of 25 seconds that helped the visitors to a 5-2 victory.

Miller had his first two-goal outing of the season and has three on the year. Lowe added an assist, which is his sixth of the season. Tulupov fired a season-high nine shots on net in his first game of the year. Wichita had a season-high 42 shots on goal this evening. Bunz suffers his first regulation loss of the season, stopping 23 of 27 shots. Griggs earns his second win of the year, stopping 40 of 42 shots.

Wichita went 2-for-6 on the power play. Missouri was 0-for-2 on the man advantage.

Wichita will head to the Black Hills for the next two games, facing the Rapid City Rush on Tuesday, November 11th and Wednesday, November 12th. Both games start at 7:35 p.m. The Thunder return home for a pair of games starting next Saturday, November 15th against the Allen Americans 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-