Game Day Capsule: Indy at Wichita, November 25th

Wichita, KS (Nov. 25th) - Wichita finishes out a six-game homestand tonight against the Indy Fuel. Get ready for the game with this Wichita Brewing Company Game Day Capsule.

TONIGHT'S MATCH-UPIndy at Wichita - 7:05 p.m., INTRUST Bank Arena, Wichita, KS

WICHITAHOME: 4-5-0-1AWAY: 1-5-0-0OVERALL: 5-10-0-1

LEADING SCORERSGoals: Sakaris, Baptista, Lowe, 4Assists: Sakaris, 7Points: Sakaris, 11 (4g, 7a)+/-: Baptista, Huff, +3PIM: Peckham, 37

INDYHOME: 6-0-0-0AWAY: 3-4-1-0OVERALL: 9-4-1-0

LEADING SCORERSGoals: Bembridge, 6Assists: Lavoie, 8Points: Clarke, 12+/-: Mattson, +7PIM: Clarke, 30

SEASON-SERIESNov. 25 INTRUST 7:05 p.m.Jan. 2 IFC 6:35 p.m.**Wichita is 0-0-0-0 vs. Indy

HEAD TO HEAD - This is the first meeting in franchise history between the Thunder and the Fuel.

TODAY - Wichita closes out a six-game homestand tonight against the Indy Fuel. This is the first-ever meeting between the two franchises. The Thunder is coming off a 5-2 loss last Saturday night against Missouri while the Fuel fell to the Quad City Mallards by the final of 2-1. After tonight, the two teams will only see each other one more time this season and that meeting will be in Indianapolis on January 2nd.

LOOKING TO REBOUND - The Thunder played two home games last weekend against two of their bigger rivals. On Friday, the Thunder fell at the hands of the Allen Americans by the final of 3-0. Wichita followed up that effort with a 5-2 loss on Saturday night against the Missouri Mavericks. Tonight's contest closes out a six-game homestand before the Thunder travel to Tulsa on Friday night.

FUEL AND ICE - Tonight is the first time a team from Indianapolis will appear in the Air Capital since 2003-04. Wichita lost at home against the Indianapolis Ice on February 25, 2004 by the final of 3-2. The Ice were a member of the CHL before leaving the league and joining the USHL. The Indy Fuel joined the ECHL last season. Wichita will play Indy one more time and that will take place in Indiana on January 2nd. The Thunder went 11-25-3 all-time against the Ice.

MILESTONES - Ian Lowe is nearing several milestones. He needs one more point to hit 100 playing in the ECHL. He needs 19 more games to have played in 300 as a pro. He also needs eight more points to hit the 200 point plateau. The 5th year pro out of Bradwardine, BC is currently in his fourth season in the Air Capital. 157 of his 192 points have come donning Thunder blue.

FAMILIAR FACES - Even though the Fuel are making their first-ever trip to Wichita, there are plenty of familiar faces on their roster. Scott Hillman was the bench boss for the Missouri Mavericks for five seasons before heading to Indy last year. Hillman brought over Anders Franzon and Shane Owen, who were members of the Mavericks when he was the head coach. Alex Lavoie spent his rookie season with the Allen Americans. He finished with 76 points that year. Kyle Stroh played for the Rapid City Rush and went to the same college as Mason Baptista. Dylan Clarke was also a member of the Rush this past season. Garett Bembridge played for Wichita during the 2011-12 season before going to Denver in 2013-14.

CAREER HIGHS - Andy Huff has set new career highs in goals (3) and points (9).

FRENCH CONNECTION - Peter Sakaris tallied and assist on Saturday as he upped his team leading points to 11. In the last five games, Sakaris has scored four points (1g, 3a). Danick Gauthier recorded his first goal of the season Saturday. Gauthier's goal came off a pass from Sakaris.

FIRST GOAL - Teams in the ECHL that have scored first have had the upper hand so far to this point in the season. Out of the 217 first goals scored so far, teams are 157-45-8-7 and good for a clip of .758 winning percentage. The Thunder have scored five first goals so far this season.

CLOSE CALL - Wichita has appeared in eight games decided by one goal, going 4-3-0-1 over that span.

THUNDERBOLTS...Peter Sakaris leads the team in shots with 39...Eric Springer made his Thunder debut last weekend, getting an assist on Saturday night... Wichita is 3-0-0-1 when leading after two...Wichita is 3-3-0-0 when tied after one...Wichita is 4-3-0-1 in one goal games...The Thunder traded defenseman Andrew Blazek to the Norfolk Admirals for future considerations on Tuesday...Daniel Johnston is expected to be in the line-up tonight...

INDY NOTES - Dylan Clarke leads the Fuel with 12 points (5g, 7a)...Garett Bembridge leads the Fuel in goals with six while Alex Lavoie leads the team in assists with eight...Bernie John, who played five seasons with the Ice and two with the Corpus Christi Rayz, is one of the Fuel's assistant coaches...Josh Brittain, who played in Missouri last season, has been called up to the Rockford Ice Hogs of the American Hockey League...

AROUND THE ECHL - There are seventh other games tonight in the ECHL. Elmira takes on Adirondack. Reading goes to Wheeling. Greenville plays at Norfolk. Fort Wayne goes to Cincinnati. Quad City heads to Missouri. Idaho is in Rapid City. Florida plays at Colorado.

UP NEXT - Wichita will head to Tulsa for the second time this season to face the Oilers on Friday night in the StoneWolf Casino Cup Series.

Individual tickets 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-