Game Day Capsule: Missouri at Wichita, November 21st

Wichita, KS (Nov. 21st) - Wichita closes the weekend tonight at home against archrival, Missouri. Get ready for the game tonight with this Game Day Capsule, presented by Wichita Brewing Company.

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

WICHITAHOME: 4-4-0-1AWAY: 1-5-0-0OVERALL: 5-9-0-1

LEADING SCORERSGoals: Sakaris, Baptista, Lowe, 4Assists: Huff, Sakaris, 6Points: Sakaris, 10+/-: Baptista, Huff, +3PIM: Milan, 35

MISSOURIHOME: 4-0-0-0AWAY: 8-2-0-1OVERALL: 12-2-0-1

LEADING SCORERSGoals: Root, Barnes, 7Assists: Jones, 12Points: Barnes, Jones, 16+/-: Markison, +PIM: Homstrom, 27

SEASON-SERIESOct. 23 INTRUST 3-0, LOct. 24 Silverstein 2-1, LNov. 7 Silverstein 1-0, LNov. 8 INTRUST 2-1. LNov. 13 INTRUST 7-2, LNov. 14 INTRUST 3-2, L (SO)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 0-5-0-1 vs. Missouri

HEAD-TO-HEAD - This is the seventh meeting of the season between the Thunder and the Mavericks. All-time, Wichita is 35-27-4 against Missouri and 20-14-3 at home.

TODAY - Wichita is nearing the end of its six-game homestand tonight as the Missouri Mavericks come to town for the fifth time this season. The Mavericks lead the Independence Cup Series, winning the first six contests. One week ago, the Thunder fell at the hands of Missouri in a shootout by the final of 3-2. Wichita is coming off a 3-0 loss to the Allen Americans while the Mavericks claimed a 5-4 overtime win at the BOK Center against Tulsa. Kellen Jones leads the way with six points (1g, 5a) against the Thunder. Colin Markison has all four goals against Wichita. The Thunder are led by Mason Baptista, who has two goals against the Mavericks.

SEASON HIGHS - The Allen Americans made their first appearance at INTRUST Bank Arena on Friday, defeating the Thunder by the score of 3-0. Wichita fired a season-high 21 shots in the first period. The Americans scored a goal in each period and Gill shut the door as the Thunder peppered him with a season-high 44 shots.

MORE MAVS - Wichita and Missouri have played each other six times already through the first 14 games of the season. The Thunder are 0-5-0-1 against Missouri and have lost four of the six by just one goal. The two teams will meet again in Independence on December 5th and then not see each other until New Year's Eve. Tonight is the fourth-straight time the Mavericks have played at INTRUST Bank Arena in the season-series.

STANDINGS - Tulsa lost last night to the Missouri Mavericks in overtime. This helped Wichita maintain third place in the division with 11 points. Wichita has played three more games than the Oilers, who have only played 12. Missouri and Allen are separated by three points for first place with the Mavericks holding the division lead with 25. Allen is in second with 22 points and has played one more game than the Mavericks.

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 198 first goals scored so far, teams are 145-38-8-7 and good for a clip of .770 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. Only Idaho has appeared in more one-goal games.

NEW FACES - The Thunder made a few moves this week to bolster their line-up. Wichita traded for defenseman Eric Springer for future considerations to the Atlanta Gladiators. The Thunder also acquired defenseman Daniel Johnston from the Idaho Steelheads for futures.

THUNDERBOLTS…Anthony Deluca and Peter Sakarsis leads the team in shots with 36...Wichita is 3-0-0-1 when leading after two...Wichita is 1-1-0-1 when leading after one... Wichita is 1-3-0-0 when outshooting the opponent...Wichita is 4-3-0-1 in one-goal games...Wichita is 3-1-0-1 when scoring first...

MISSOURI NOTES - Parker Milner leads the league in GAA with 1.49…Kellen Jones is tied for third in the ECHL in assists (12) and tied for sixth in points (16)...Tyler Barnes is also tied for sixth in points with 16...

AROUND THE ECHL - There are 11 other games tonight in the ECHL. Norfolk is in Manchester. Wheeling travels to Florida. Reading goes to Elmira. South Carolina plays in Atlanta. Fort Wayne goes to Toledo. Quad City is in Indy. Orlando travels to Cincinnati. Kalamazoo plays at Evansville. Idaho is in Colorado. Utah takes on Rapid City.

UP NEXT - Wichita remains at home on Wednesday night against Indy at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday is the first-ever $1 Beer and Country Night. Dress up in your best country outfit and have a chance to win two tickets to the PBR event at INTRUST Bank Arena.

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-