Gagne Scores Twice in 4-3 Loss to Cincinnati

Wichita, KS (Jan. 4th) - Gabriel Gagne scored a pair of goals in a losing effort as Cincinnati claimed a 4-3 win on Wednesday night at INTRUST Bank Arena. The Cyclones scored three unanswered, including two from Jordan Sims and held off a furious Thunder rally for the victory.

Matt DeBlouw tallied his third of the season while three others collected assists.

Wichita got on the board first when Deblouw split the defense and beat Mark Visentin with a backhand at 16:19. The Thunder were outshot 12-5 in the first period, but took a one-goal lead into the locker room.

Cincinnati answered in the second as Peter LeBlanc tied the game at one. Shane Walsh took a pass up the right wing, went down on a two-on-one and fed a pass over to LeBlanc and he scored at 12:57.

Gagne recorded his first of two at 6:01 of the third period when he took a pass up the right boards, got to the circle and beat Visentin to the blocker side. The Cyclones rolled off the next three. Sims tallied back-to-back goals with his first coming at 10:57 and second at 11:36 on a power play. Colin Mulvey made it 4-2 at 14:27 as he beat Owsley with a wrist shot in the slot during a two-on-one situation. Gagne added his second at 18:51 that cut the lead to one and gave the Thunder a chance. Visentin made two tough saves from in close in the waning seconds and the Cyclones held on for the win.

Wichita fired 28 shots on net, tying its opponent in shots for the third game in a row. Gagne recorded his first multi-goal game of his pro career. DeBlouw has three points in his last three games (1g, 2a). Owsley suffers the loss, stopping 24 of 28 shots. Visentin grabs his sixth win of the year, stopping 23 of 28 shots he faced.

Wichita went 0-for-3 on the power play. Cincinnati was 1-for-7 on the man advantage. The Thunder heads on the road to take on the Missouri Mavericks for a pair of games starting Friday at 7:35 p.m.

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