Game Day Capsule: Quad City at Wichita, January 3rd

WICHITAHOME: 9-5-0-2AWAY: 6-5-1-2OVERALL: 15-10-1-4 LEADING SCORERSGauthier, 29 pts (14g, 15a)Lowe, 29 pts (11g, 18a)Miller, 25 pts (9g, 16a) QUAD CITYHOME: 7-6-1-0AWAY: 9-5-2-2OVERALL: 16-11-3-2 LEADING SCORERSLamoureaux, 32 pts (11a, 21a)Perry, 30 pts (15g, 15a)Fox, 27 pts (9g, 18a)

HEAD TO HEAD - This is the third of 12 meetings this season between the Thunder and the Mallards. Wichita split the first two contests of the year and is 14-4-3 all-time against the Mallards and 8-4-0 at home.

TODAY - Wichita begins the new year at home tonight against the Quad City Mallards. While the Thunder were idle last night, Quad City played at home against the Missouri Mavericks and lost by the final of 4-2. The Mallards lead the Thunder by two points for the second place spot in the Central Division. Wichita has two games in hand as the Mallards have played 32 so far this season. Quad City is led by Mario Lamoureux, who has 32 points in 29 games and Joe Perry, who has 30 points in 32 contests. The Thunder is led by Danick Gauthier and Ian Lowe, who have 29 points a-piece. RINGIN' IT IN - Wichita rang in in the New Year on Wednesday night with a road win at Missouri by the final of 4-3. The Thunder rattled off three unanswered goals in the second period and held on for the victory. Four different players scored including Todd Hosmer, who finished with a goal and an assist. The victory extended the Thunder's win-streak to three and streak over the Mavericks to five-straight. Wichita leads the Independence Cup Series 6-1-0-0 with three games remaining between the two.

REGULATION - Wichita's win against Missouri broke a streak of games heading past 60 minutes. The previous four contests ended up in overtime or a shootout.

POINT STREAK - Wichita has claimed at least a point in their last seven games, going 6-0-0-1 in that stretch and has earned 13 out of a possible 14. The only blemish was a shootout loss to Rapid City on December 21st. The previous season-high was seven out of a possible eight points from November 26th to November 30th.

SECONDS PLEASE - Wichita's best offensive period has been the second. The Thunder has a scoring edge of 33-21 over their opponents so far this season. The first period is where the team has struggled, being outscored 28-20. The Thunder is also outshooting teams 368-245 in the second period.

STREAKING - Wichita currently has four skaters on point streaks. Ian Lowe has goals in three consecutive games and points in his last six (4g, 5a). Rookie forward Ian Duval has scored in each of the last five (1g, 5a). Eric Meland has points in two-straight and six of his last seven (2g, 6a). Danick Gauthier (2g, 2a) have both tallied points in the last three.

MALLARDS THIRD - The Mallards were outscored 2-1 in the third period last night after outscoring the opposition 17-4 in the third over their prior 11 games.

MAC MILESTONE - With an assist last night, former Thunder defenseman Darren McMillan reached 196 career points. He spent two seasons in Wichita from 2005-07, collecting 48 points (5g, 43a) in 120 games.

THUNDERBOLTS… Danick Gauthier is tied for 16th in goals (14), tied for third in power play goals (5) and tied for sixth in power play assists (8)…Tyler Bunz is fifth in the league in goals against average (2.39) while Tim Boron is in 14th place (2.60)…Tyler Bunz and Tim Boron are tied for second in shutouts (2)...Boron is eighth in wins (11)…Wichita is sixth in shots for per game (31.73) and first in shots against per game (26.23)…Wichita is 4-1-0-1 when leading after one...Wichita is 9-2-0-0 when tied after one…Wichita is 5-3-1-1 when tied after two periods…Wichita is 12-7-0-2 when outshooting the opponent…Wichita is 6-2-0-0 in two-goal games...

QUAD CITY NOTES - The Mallards have won eight of their last 11 games…Quad City finishes their busiest stretch of the season, playing their sixth game in eight nights and have gone 3-2-0 in their last five…The Mallards have won five-straight road games…Mario Lamoureux extended his point-streak to five games (4g, 2a) and is tied for seventh in the league in assists (21)…

AROUND THE ECHL - There are 10 other games tonight in the ECHL. Fort Wayne goes to Toledo. Florida plays at Greenville. Elmira travels to Gwinnett. Wheeling is at Cincinnati. Reading plays at Indy. Brampton goes to Missouri. Kalamazoo heads to Evansville. Rapid City plays at Tulsa. Idaho goes to Colorado. Ontario heads to Bakersfield. Utah plays at Alaska.

UP NEXT - Wichita plays tomorrow afternoon at Allen starting at 4:05 p.m. The Thunder will head to Quad City for a pair of games next week starting on Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m.

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-