Game Day Capsule: Allen at Wichita, March 1st

Wichita, KS (March 1st) - Wichita continues on its five-game homestand today against the Allen Americans. Get ready for the game with this edition of Game Day Capsule below:

TONIGHT'S MATCH-UPAllen at Wichita - 5:05 p.m., INTRUST Bank Arena, Wichita, KS WICHITAHOME: 13-9-0-3AWAY: 12-11-2-2OVERALL: 25-20-2-5 LEADING SCORERSLowe, 47 pts (16g, 31a)Gauthier, 46 pts (21g, 25a)Miller, 40 pts (15g, 25a) ALLENHOME: 19-5-3-1AWAY: 17-5-1-2OVERALL: 36-10-4-3 LEADING SCORERSCostello, 90 pts (28g, 62a)Steffes, 57 pts (35g, 22a)Hanson, 41 pts (18g, 23a) SEASON-SERIESOct. 25 INTRUST 5-3, LNov. 15 INTRUST 3-2, LNov. 28 INTRUST 3-1, WDec. 19 AEC 2-1, W (OT)Dec. 27 INTRUST 3-2, W (SO)Jan. 4 AEC 3-2, LJan. 16 AEC 8-2, LJan. 17 AEC 6-4, LFeb. 14 AEC 5-4, W (OT)Feb. 15 INTRUST 6-5, L (OT)Feb. 18 AEC 6-5, W (SO)March 1 INTRUST 5:05 p.m.

** Wichita is 5-5-0-1 vs. Allen

HEAD TO HEAD - This is the 12th meeting this season between the Thunder and the Americans. All-time, Wichita is 15-21-4 against Allen and 8-7-3 at INTRUST Bank Arena.

TODAY - Wichita and Allen meet for th 12th time this season and fourth time in the last seven games. The Thunder are coming off of a win on Friday night, beating Brampton by the final of 4-1 while the Americans lost last night at home against the Beast in overtime, 6-5. With the Thunder idle, Rapid City got past Tulsa and jumped ahead of Wichita into fourth place by one point. The Thunder does have four games in hand on the Rush and three on Quad City and Tulsa. The Americans have a comfortable lead in first place in the division. Allen is led by Chad Costello, who has 16 points in 11 games against the Thunder. Gary Steffes has seven goals in the season-series. Danick Gauthier and Ian Lowe each have 10 points against Allen.

FOUR SCORE - Wichita got balance Friday night as four different players lit the lamp in a 4-1 victory over the Brampton Beast. Ian Duval gave the Thunder a 1-0 lead early in the first and re-gained the lead on a goal from Danick Gauthier. The win stopped a two-game skid. Rapid City won yesterday over Tulsa, moving the Rush one point ahead of Wichita for the fourth playoff spot.

END OF THE MONTH - Wichita finished February with its second home win of the month. The Thunder went 2-2-0-1 at home and 3-1-0-0 on the road, good for a 5-3-0-1 record in nine games.

GO TIME - Danick Gauthier remained hot Friday night, recording his 21st goal of the season and extending his point-streak to six games. Since returning from Syracuse of the American Hockey League, he has nine points (4g, 5a). In just his third year, the Brossard, PQ native has new career highs in goals, assists (24) and points (44).

POWER UP - Kirill Tulupov gave the Thunder a two-goal cushion on Friday night with a power play goal early in the third. It was his sixth tally of the season, giving him 13 points in 43 games. Half of his goals this year have come on the man advantage. The Moscow, Russia native didn't make the trip to Brampton back in December as he and Nikita Kashirsky faced the Beast for the first time this season.

WORKHORSE - Tim Boron started his ninth-straight game on Friday night and has appeared in 13 of the last 15 contests. He earned his 19th win of the season, stopping 26 of 27 shots. The Winnipeg, MB native is tied in seventh place in wins and dropped his goals against average down to 2.99. Boron is close to playing in 300 games, sitting at 270 in his pro career and earned his 140th win on Friday.

CLOSE CALL - Brampton headed south to face Allen on Saturday night. The Beast got another MVP performance from Chad Painchaud, scoring three times for the second game this week including the game-winner in overtime. Brampton led with less than two minutes left before former Thunder defenseman Kevin Young tied the game with nine seconds remaining in regulation. With the loss, Allen has gone 4-3-2-1 in their last 10 games.

THUNDERBOLTS… Danick Gauthier and Ian Lowe are tied for third in power play goals (8)...Mike Wilson is tied for 13th in power play assists (12)…Ian Lowe is in 15th place for shots on goal (165) while Kenton Miller is in 19th (162)…Wichita is third in the ECHL in penalty minutes (1,151) and is averaging 22.13 per game… Tyler Bunz and Tim Boron are tied for ninth in shutouts (2)…Tim Boron is fourth in the league in minutes played (2,085)…Wichita is 13th in shots for per game (31.35) and fourth in shots against per game (27.69)…Wichita is 9-2-0-1 when leading after one...Wichita is 13-10-0-0 when tied after one…Wichita is 7-3-1-1 when tied after two periods…Wichita is 13-5-2-5 in one-goal games…

ALLEN NOTES - Gary Steffes leads the league in power play goals (14) and goals (35)…Chad Costello is third in goals (28) and leads the league with 62 assists and 90 points…Greger Hanson is tied for first in shorthanded goals (4)...Riley Gill had an eight-game winning streak from November 14th to November 29th…The Americans lead the league in goals scored with 219 and are the only team in the ECHL with 200 or more…Chad Costello passed Colton Yellow Horn for most points in a season in franchise history, which was 88…

AROUND THE ECHL - There are four other games tonight in the ECHL. Greenville takes on Wheeling. Elmira travels to Reading. Missouri plays at Quad City. Kalamazoo goes to Toledo.

UP NEXT - Wichita finishes its five-game homestand this coming Wednesday night as the Rapid City Rush come to town for the final time this season. Stick around after tonight's game for a post-game skate and get your favorite player's autograph.

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-