Game Day Capsule: Missouri at Wichita, Oct. 23rd

Wichita, KS (Oct. 23rd) - Tonight, the Wichita Thunder returns home to take on the Missouri Mavericks. The Thunder opened up last weekened with a pair of wins and will look to continue that against their heated rival from Independence. Get ready for the game below:

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

WICHITAHOME: 1-0-0-0AWAY: 1-0-0-0OVERALL: 2-0-0-0

LEADING SCORERSMiller: 2 points (2g)Deluca: 2 point (1g, 1a)Gauthier: 2 point (2a)

MISSOURIHOME: 0-0-0-0AWAY: 2-1-0-0OVERALL: 2-1-0-0

LEADING SCORERSHomstrom: 4 points (3g, 1a)Markison: 3 points (3a)Root: 2 points (2g)

SEASON-SERIESOct. 23 INTRUST Bank Arena 7:05 p.m. Oct. 24 Silverstein Eye Centers Arena 7:05 p.m.Nov. 7 Silverstein Eye Centers Arena 7:05 p.m.Nov. 8 INTRUST Bank Arena 5:05 p.mNov. 13 INTRUST Bank Arena 7:05 p.m. Nov. 14 INTRUST Bank Arena 7:05 p.m. Nov. 21 INTRUST Bank Arena 7:05 p.m. Dec. 5 Silverstein Eye Centers Arena 7:05 p.m. Dec. 31 Silverstein Eye Centers Arena 7:05 p.m.Jan. 12 INTRUST Bank Arena 7:05 p.m. Jan. 29 Silverstein Eye Centers Arena 7:05 p.m.Jan. 30 Silverstein Eye Centers Arena 7:05 p.m. Mar. 4 Silverstein Eye Centers Arena 7:05 p.m. Mar. 19 INTRUST Bank Arena 7:05 p.m.Mar. 20 INTRUST Bank Arena 5:05 p.m.

HEAD-TO-HEAD - This is the first meeting of the season between the Thunder and the Mavericks. All-time, Wichita is 35-22-3 and 20-11-0 at INTRUST Bank Arena versus the Mavericks. The two teams will play 15 times this season with seven games in Wichita and eight at the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena.

THREES - Wichita begins a busy weekend tonight against the Mavericks before heading to Missouri tomorrow night. The Thunder close the weekend with a road match-up against the Quad City Mallards. This is the first three-in-three of the season and one of seven the team will appear in from now until April.

HOME AND AWAY - Wichita will host Missouri four straight times in the month of November and then not see the Mavericks at INTRUST Bank Arena until January 12th. After that meeting, the Thunder will play three-straight at Silverstein Eye Center Arena before finishing off the season-series with the final two games in the Air Capital.

INDEPENDENCE CUP SERIES - Tonight is the first of 15 games against the Missouri Mavericks. Wichita won the Independence Cup last season and also helped raise money for the Wichita Youth Hockey Association. The winner of this year's trophy will be awarded at the last game of the season.

NEW FACES - Both teams will have plenty of new faces in this rivalry. Wichita is without Mike Wilson, who left to go to Europe while longtime Maverick forward Sebastien Thinel left as well. Andrew Courtney and Ian Lowe are two names to watch for both teams as well as Danick Gauthier and Josh Holmstrom.

THUNDERBOLTS...Deluca leads the team in shots (6) and is tied for third in rookie scoring...Danick Gauthier and Ian Lowe each have two assists and combined for eight shots...Lowe is seven-for-19 all time in shootouts...Wichita is tied for a league-high, scoring four goals in the second period...Michael Neal has the Thunder's lone power play goal...David Shantz won his first ECHL game since March of 2011...Kenton Miller is tied for eighth in goals (2)...

MISSOURI NOTES - Missouri made the long trek to start the season,opening in Alaska for the first three games of the year...The Mavericks announced an affiliation with the New York Islanders and the Bridgeport Soundtigers over the summer...Missouri traded for former Allen defenseman, Trevor Ludwig, who reunites with his former coach Richard Matvichuk...

AROUND THE ECHL - There are 10 other games tonight in the ECHL. South Carolina heads to Greenville. Reading takes on Elmira. Adirondack travels across the border to Brampton. Toledo plays at Kalamazoo. Florida is at Atlanta. Indy takes on Fort Wayne. Tulsa goes to Quad City. Allen is in Utah. Colorado travels to Rapid City. Idaho takes on Alaska.

UP NEXT - Wichita heads to Missouri for the first time this season to take on the Mavericks in the Independence Cup Series starting at 7:05p.m. Tomorrow is the Mavericks home opener.

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.

Season tickets are on sale now. Don't delay! Call the Wichita Thunder office and visit with a season ticket rep today to learn more. 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-