Wichita, KS (Feb. 20th) - Wichita begins a five-game home-stand tonight against the Rapid City Rush. Get ready for tonight's action with today's Game Day Capsule below:
TONIGHT'S MATCH-UPRapid City at Wichita - 7:05 p.m., INTRUST Bank Arena, Wichita, KS WICHITAHOME: 12-7-0-3AWAY: 12-11-2-2OVERALL: 24-18-2-5 LEADING SCORERSLowe, 45 pts (16g, 29a)Gauthier, 43 pts (20g, 23a)Miller, 38 pts (15g, 23a) RAPID CITYHOME: 10-13-0-2AWAY: 14-11-0-1OVERALL: 24-24-0-3 LEADING SCORERSSchultz, 50 pts (20g, 30a)Kerbashian, 40 pts (14g, 26a)Clarke, 31 pts (12g, 19a) SEASON-SERIESNov. 7 INTRUST 3-0, LNov. 11 Rushmore 6-3, LNov. 12 Rushmore 3-2, WDec. 13 INTRUST 5-0, WDec. 21 INTRUST 5-4, L (SO)Jan. 23 Rushmore 5-4, LJan. 24 Rushmore 4-3, W (SO)Feb. 20 INTRUST 7:05 p.m.March 4 INTRUST 7:05 p.m.
** Wichita is 3-3-0-1 vs. Rapid City
HEAD TO HEAD - This is the eighth of nine meetings between the Thunder and the Rush. All-time, Wichita is 18-30-6 against Rapid City and 7-14-4 at home.
TODAY - Wichita returns home for the next five games starting tonight against Rapid City. The Thunder are coming off of a shootout win this past Wednesday night at Allen while the Rush have won two straight this week against Missouri. The Thunder sit in third place one point behind Quad City and four points ahead of the Rush, who are currently in fifth place. Tonight's meeting is the second-to-last contest between Wichita and Rapid City with the final game taking place on Wednesday, March 4th in Wichita. Jesse Schultz leads the way for the Rush with 10 points against Wichita while Daniel Tetrault has six. Todd Hosmer, Kenton Miller and Danick Gauthier each have seven points against Rapid City.
EXTRA, EXTRA - Wichita and Allen played in three-straight games that finished past regulation. The Thunder claimed a 6-5 shootout out win on Wednesday night against the Americans at the Allen Event Center. Ian Duval scored twice and Todd Hosmer won the game in the bottom of round seven. Wichita is 3-5 in shootouts and played Rapid City to a shootout the last time the two teams met on January 24th at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center.
WEEKEND AT BERNIE'S - Justin Bernhardt continued to stay hot on Wednesday night, tallying a goal and an assist. The fifth-year pro has 10 points (6g, 4a) in seven games since signing with the team. He recorded his first pro hat trick last Saturday night and was a runner-up for Player of the Week.
MULTI-TASKING - Danick Gauthier added to his team-leading total on Wednesday, scoring his 20th goal of the season and also added an assist. He has 14 multi-point games this year and also recorded his first shootout goal of the year in the bottom of round four. He has 43 points (20g, 23a) in 46 games this season.
WORKHORSE - Tim Boron has appeared in six straight and 10 of the last 12 games. He has gone 4-1-0-1 in his last six starts and is tied for sixth in the league with 18 wins. Against his former team, he is 2-2-0-1 in five starts with a GAA of 3.10 and a save percentage of .880.
DEUCES - Ian Duval scored twice on Wednesday night, recording his first multi-goal game of the season. The rookie forward out of Winnipeg, MB has 24 points (9g, 15a) in 33 games. He is currently tied for 34th in rookie scoring while Todd Hosmer is 26th in the league with 26 points (15g, 11a).
SPECIAL - After going two out of three games without registering a power play goal, Wichita has scored on the man advantage in three-straight and has netted a pair with the extra man in the last two. Over that stretch, the Thunder have gone 5-for-20 and operating at 25%.
THUNDERBOLTS… Danick Gauthier and Ian Lowe are tied for second in power play goals (8)...Mike Wilson is tied for 10th in power play assists (11)…Kenton Miller is tied for ninth place in shots (157) while Ian Lowe is in 12th (154)…Tyler Bunz is 10th in the league in goals against average (2.39) while Tim Boron is 15th (2.60)… Tyler Bunz and Tim Boron are tied for eighth in shutouts (2)…Wichita is 14th in shots for per game (31.18) and fourth in shots against per game (27.53)…Wichita is 9-2-0-1 when leading after one...Wichita is 12-9-0-0 when tied after one…Wichita is 7-3-1-1 when tied after two periods…Wichita is 16-10-1-3 when outshooting the opponent….
RAPID CITY NOTES - Rapid City has claimed points in the last three meetings against the Thunder… When facing back-to-back shutout losses this season, the Rush have won two straight twice, outscoring their opposition 16-6 with two shutouts…Kale Kerbashian has points in his last 10 games (5g, 9a) and assists in his last five since being acquired from Evansville…Jesse Schultz has 10 points (2g, 8a) in seven games against the Thunder while former Thunder blue liner Daniel Tetrault has six points (1g, 5a) in six games…
AROUND THE ECHL - There are 10 other games in the ECHL tonight. Indy heads to Elmira. Cincinnati takes on Toledo. Orlando goes to Florida. Reading plays at Kalamazoo. Quad City goes to Brampton. Gwinnett takes on Fort Wayne. Allen travels to Missouri. Colorado is at Ontario. Idaho takes on Stockton. Utah heads north to Alaska.
UP NEXT - The Thunder plays the Tulsa Oilers at home tomorrow 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-