Wichita, KS (Nov. 13th) - Wichita resumes its tough stretch of games at home this weekend against the Missouri MAvericks. Get ready for tonight's game with our Wichita Brewing Company Game Day Capsule.
TONIGHT'S MATCH-UPMissouri at Wichita - 7:05 p.m., INTRUST Bank Arena, Wichita, KS
WICHITAHOME: 4-2-0-0AWAY: 1-5-0-0OVERALL: 5-7-0-0
LEADING SCORERSGoals: Sakaris, 4Assists: Huff, 6Points: Sakaris, 8+/-: Sakaris, +6PIM: Milan, 30
MISSOURIHOME: 3-0-0-0AWAY: 5-2-0-1OVERALL: 8-2-0-1
LEADING SCORERSGoals: Root, 7Assists: Jones, 8Points: Root, 12+/-: Root, +7PIM: Barnes, 10
SEASON-SERIESOct. 23 INTRUST 3-0, LOct. 24 Silverstein 2-1, LNov. 7 Silverstein 1-0, LNov. 8 INTRUST 2-1. LNov. 13 INTRUST 7:05 p.m.Nov. 14 INTRUST 7:05 p.m.Nov. 21 INTRUST 7:05 p.m.Dec. 5 Silverstein 7:05 p.m.Dec. 31 Siverstein 7:05 p.m.Jan. 12 INTRUST 7:05 p.m.Jan. 29 Silverstein 7:05 p.m.Jan. 30 Silverstein 7:05 p.m.Mar. 4 Silverstein 7:05 p.m.Mar. 19 INTRUST 7:05 p.m.Mar. 20 INTRUST 5:05 p.m.
Wichita is 0-4-0-0 vs. Missouri
HEAD-TO-HEAD - This is the fifth meeting of the season between the Thunder and the Mavericks. All-time, Wichita is 35-26-3 against Missouri and 20-13-2 at home.
TODAY - Wichita resumes its six-game homestand tonight when the Missouri Mavericks come to town for a pair of games this weekend. The Thunder took on the Mavericks twice last weekend and lost both games by just a goal. Wichita has played two games this week while Missouri has been off since Sunday. The Mavericks lead the Central Division by one point over Allen. The Thunder are one point ahead of Tulsa for third place. Jesse Root leads Missouri with 12 points while Tyler Barnes and Kellen Jones each have 11. Peter Sakaris and Andy Huff each have eight points to the lead the Thunder while Mason Baptista and Ian Lowe have five points each.
INDEPENDENCE CUP - Wichita and Missouri continue their battle for the Independence Cup tonight. The Thunder are winless so far this season versus the Mavericks, going 0-4-0-0.
DELUCA DANGLES - Thunder rookie Anthony Deluca dazzled the home crowd with a fantastic shootout move to help Wichita beat the Tulsa Oilers on Wednesday night. The Montreal, Quebec native recorded his first shootout goal and has five points (1g, 4a) in 12 games this season.
FINDING OFFENSE - Peter Sakaris recorded his fourth goal of the season and first in a shootout situation on Wednesday night. He is tied for the team-lead in points with Andy Huff with eight (4g, 4a).
ROCK SOLID - Over the last four games, David Shantz has been steady in net for the Thunder. He claimed his second win last during that stretch, stopping 30 of 31 shots on net and the lone goal came during a five-on-three situation. His goals-against average over that span is a solid 1.49 and save percentage of .951. He has seen 77 shots in the last two games, stopping 74 of them.
CLOSE CALL - Wichita has appeared in the most one-goal decisions in the league, going 4-3-0-0 through the first 12 games.
THUNDER ACQUIRE NELSON - The Thunder acquired forward Logan Nelson from the Quad City Mallards for future considerations. Nelson appeared in seven games with the Mallards, scoring five points (4g, 1a). He played his rookie season with Quad City during the 2014-15 season. Nelson tallied 28 points (16g, 12a) in 43 games. The Rogers, MN was a fifth round pick by the Buffalo Sabres back in the 2012 NHL Draft.
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 144 first goals scored so far, teams are 108-27-7-2 and good for a clip of .781 winning percentage. The Thunder have scored four first goals so far this season.
THUNDERBOLTS…Anthony Deluca leads the team in shots with 33...Wichita is 10th on the penalty kill (86%) and gave up its first power play goal at home on Wednesday...Wichita is 3-0-0-0 when leading after two...Wichita is 1-1-0-0 when leading after one... Wichita is 1-2-0-0 when outshooting the opponent...Wichita is 4-3-0-0 in one-goal games...Wichita is 3-1-0-0 when scoring first...Wichita allowed its first power play goal at home on Wednesday...Wichita won its first game when trailing after one...
MISSOURI NOTES - Josh Robinson leads the league in goals against average with 1.31…and was named the Warrior Goalie of the Month for October Jesse Root is tied for second in the ECHL in goals (7) and tied for eighth in points (12)...Tyler Barnes is tied for 13th with 11 points...Parker Milner went 7-0-0-0 in eight games against the Thunder last year, posting a solid 1.50 GAA and .947 SVPCT with the Quad City Mallards...
AROUND THE ECHL - There are 11 other games tonight in the ECHL. Evansville heads to Kalamazoo. Toledo goes to Manchester. Norfolk plays at Elmira. Orlando travels to South Carolina. Idaho goes to Florida. Alaska heads to Indy. Quad City takes on Cincinnati. Reading goes to Wheeling. Adirondack tangles with Atlanta. Allen travels to Tulsa. Rapid City is in Utah.
UP NEXT - Wichita remains at home on Saturday night against Missouri.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.
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-