Game Day: Allen at Wichita, December 27th

Wichita, KS (Dec. 27th) - Wichita returns to action after the Christmas holiday this afternoon against the Allen Americans. Get ready for the match-up with this Wichita Brewing Company Game Day Capsule:

TONIGHT'S MATCH-UPAllen at Wichita - 5:05 p.m., INTRUST Bank Arena, Wichita, KS

WICHITAHOME: 5-7-0-2AWAY: 2-11-0-1OVERALL: 7-18-0-3

TEAM LEADERSGoals: Huff, 7Assists: Sakaris, 9Points: Huff, 14+/-: Neal, 0PIM: Milan, 45

ALLENHOME: 7-5-1-0AWAY: 9-7-0-0OVERALL: 16-12-1-0

TEAM LEADERSGoals: Costello, 11Assists: Costello, 27Points: Costello, 38+/-: Gunn, +9PIM: Schultz, 63

SEASON-SERIESNov. 10 AEC 5-2, LNov. 20 INTRUST 3-0, LDec. 27 INTRUST 5:05 p.m.Dec. 30 INTRUST 7:05 p.m.Jan. 22 INTRUST 7:05 p.m.Jan. 23 INTRUST 7:05 p.m.Jan. 24 AEC 4:05 p.m.Feb. 6 AEC 7:05 p.m.Feb. 26 INTRUST 7:05 p.m.Feb. 27 AEC 7:05 p.m.Feb. 28 AEC 4:05 p.m.Mar. 12 AEC 7:05 p.m.Mar. 13 AEC 4:05 p.m.

Wichita is 0-2-0-0 vs. Allen

HEAD-TO-HEAD - This is the third meeting of the season between the Thunder and the Americans. All-time, Wichita is 18-26-4 against Allen and 9-11-3 at home in the series.

TODAY - Wichita continues its four-game homestand this afternoon against the Allen Americans. Both teams lost last night to division opponents. The Thunder dropped a 2-1 decision to Tulsa in a shootout and have lost three in a row. Allen fell to division-leading Missouri at home by the final of 3-1 and have lost their last two contests this week. Tonight is the second of five-straight games between the two teams in the Air Capital. After a January 23rd meeting at INTRUST Bank Arena, the Thunder will play six of the final seven in the season-series in Allen.

TIGHT - Last night's loss was the third-straight contest between the Thunder and the Oilers that headed past regulation. Wichita has dropped its last three shootouts and is 5-5-0-3 in one-goal games this season.

GOALIE MATCH-UP - David Shantz is coming off a solid performance last night against Tulsa, stopping 31 of 32 shots he faced. He stopped a shorthanded breakaway in overtime and was named the #2 star of the night. He has faced Allen once this season, going 0-1-0-0 with a GAA of 3.00 and SV% of .912. Riley Gill suffered a 3-1 loss at home last night against Missouri. He is 1-0-0-0 against the Thunder this year, earning a 3-0 win in the last meeting between the two teams.

SERIES LEADERS - Three players for the Thunder have registered goals against Allen (Huff, Lowe, Nelson). Lowe and Huff recorded shorthanded goals in the first meeting of the season in Allen on November 10th. Chad Costello has five points in the season-series against the Thunder (3g, 2a) while Casey Pierro-Zabotel has three points (1g, 2a).

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS - Wichita remains at home for the next two games before heading out of town before the New Year. The Thunder takes on Allen Sunday afternoon and then finishes its brief home-stand with the Americans on Wednesday, December 30th. Wichita begins a three-game road trip on New Year's Eve at Missouri.

THUNDERBOLTS...Andy Huff leads the team in goals (7) and points (14)...Danick Gauthier leads the team in shots with 66...Wichita's penalty kill is ranked sixth at home (87.1%) and 10th overall (84.1%)...Wichita is 5-0-0-1 when leading after two...Wichita is 3-4-0-1 when tied after one...Wichita is 3-5-0-1 when outshooting the opponent...

ALLEN NOTES - Chad Costello leads the league in assists with 27 and is tied for first in power play helpers (11)...Tristan King is tied for 15th with four power play goals...Eric Roy is tied for 10th in rookie scoring with 19 points (6g, 13a)...Joel Rumpel is tied for third in wins with 11 and eighth in minutes played (1,008)...Riley Gill is tied for second with two shutouts...

AROUND THE ECHL - There are eight other games tonight in the ECHL. Reading travels to Brampton. Adirondack goes to Manchester. Atlanta heads to Greenville. Quad City plays at Indy. Norfolk is in South Carolina. Kalamazoo heads to Wheeling. Florida takes on Orlando. Colorado is in Rapid City.

UP NEXT - Wichita closes out 2015 with its last home game of the year on Wednesday night against Allen at 7:05 p.m.

Individual tickets for all games are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased at the INTRUST Arena Box office, by calling 855-755-SEAT or go online at www.selectaseat.com.

Follow along with us on our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter (@wichita_thunder), Snapchat (wichthunder), Instagram (Wichita_Thunder) and LinkedIn, presented by Wichita Brewing Company.

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-