Game Day Capsule: Wichita at Allen, February 14th

Allen, TX (Feb. 14th) - Wichita travels to the Dallas Metroplex tonight to take on the first place Allen Americans.Get ready for tonight's action with today's Game Day Capsule below:

TONIGHT'S MATCH-UPWichita Thunder at Allen Americans - 7:05 p.m., Allen Event Center, Allen, TX

WICHITAHOME: 12-7-0-2AWAY: 10-11-2-2OVERALL: 22-18-2-4

LEADING SCORERSLowe, 41 pts (16g, 25a)Gauthier, 37 pts (17g, 20a)Miller, 36 pts (14g 22a)

ALLENHOME: 19-3-1-0AWAY: 14-5-1-2OVERALL: 33-8-2-2

LEADING SCORERSCostello, 73 pts (22g, 51a)Steffes, 50 pts (31g, 19a)Schultz, 38 pts (19g, 19a)

SEASON-SERIESOct. 25 INTRUST 5-3, LNov. 15 INTRUST 3-2, LNov. 28 INTRUST 3-1, WDec. 19 AEC 2-1, W (OT)Dec. 27 INTRUST 3-2, W (SO)Jan. 4 AEC 3-2, LJan. 16 AEC 8-2, LJan. 17 AEC 6-4, LFeb. 14 AEC 7:05 p.m.Feb. 15 INTRUST 5:05 p.m.Feb. 18 AEC 7:05 p.m.

**Allen leads series 5-1-1-1 (Wichita is 3-5-0-0)

HEAD-TO-HEAD - This is the ninth of 16 meetings this season between the Thunder and the Americans. All-time, Wichita is 13-21-3 against Allen and 5-14-1 on the road.

TODAY - Wichita and Allen begin a three-game stretch against each other this evening at the Allen Event Center. In the season-series, tonight is the fourth straight trip for the Thunder to the Allen Event Center. Wichita is coming off of a win last night over Missouri while Allen was off. The Americans lead the Central Division with 70 points while the Thunder are in third with 50. Gary Steffes leads the Americans with five goals and eight points against the Thunder. Ian Duval, Ian Lowe and Jared Walker each have two goals and four assists against Allen in the season-series.

WILD FIRST - Wichita and Missouri combined for five goals in the first period last night. The Thunder went four-straight games without registering a first-period tally. In fact, the last four games were scoreless after the first until last night. Justin Bernhardt had two while Jared Walker and RG Flath both recorded goals in the first period.

FRIDAY NIGHT - Last night's win was the first home victory on a Friday night for the Thunder this season. Wichita is 1-3-0-0 when playing at home on a Friday and 4-3-0-0 on the road.

DEBUT - Justin Bernhardt played his first game at home last night and made a great impression. He scored twice in the first period and added an assist to give him three points to lead the Thunder in scoring and claimed the number one star. It was also his first two goals of the season and first two in a Thunder uniform.

82 - RG Flath scored his ninth of the season last night and now has 82 career goals in Thunder blue. The Park City, Utah native currently sits in ninth place all-time in goals scored in a Thunder uniform and is just three shy of tying Jim McGeough for eighth place.

ROAD TRIP - Allen enters tonight's game having won three of their last four. The Americans are coming off their longest road trip in franchise history. After busing to Brampton and playing last Thursday and Friday, Allen headed to Ontario, CA to take on the Reign for two contests. The Americans flew from Canada to California and split with Ontario earlier this week. The Reign won 4-1 on Tuesday and the Americans claimed a 5-3 win on Wednesday.

LEAGUE BEST - Allen comes into tonight's contest with the league's best home record, currently 19-3-1 at the Allen Event Center. Wichita has one win in the season-series at the AEC, which came in overtime on December 19th. The Thunder are 1-3-0-0 on the road this season against Allen and has just five wins all-time against the Americans while visiting the Dallas Metroplex.

THUNDERBOLTS… Ian Lowe is second in power play goals (8)...Jared Walker is tied for fifth in shorthanded goals (2)...Ian Lowe is 12th (146) while Kenton Miller is in 16th place for shots on net (143)…Todd Hosmer leads the league for longest road-game goal streak (5) from January 16th to January 28th...Tyler Bunz and Tim Boron are tied for fifth in shutouts (2)…Wichita is 14th in shots for per game (30.93) and fourth in shots against per game (27.24)…Wichita is 7-2-0-1 when leading after one...Wichita is 6-3-1-1 when tied after two periods…Wichita is 15-10-1-2 when outshooting the opponent…Wichita is 15-0-0-1 when leading after two periods...

AMERICANS NOTES - Gary Steffes leads the league in power play goals (12) while Ian Schultz is in third with seven...Steffes leads the league with 31 goals while Chad Costello leads the league with 51 assists...Allen is second in shots on net (33.09) and 13th for shots allowed per game (29.78)...Allen leads the league in goals for per game (4.20)...Allen is first in the ECHL on the penalty kill (89.7%)...

AROUND THE ECHL - There are 12 other games tonight in the ECHL. Evansville visits Greenville. Kalamazoo takes on Florida. Fort Wayne goes to Orlando. Reading plays at Elmira. South Carolina plays at Gwinnet. Wheeling takes on Toledo. Cincy goes to Indy. Brampton takes on Rapid City. Quad City goes to Tulsa. Alaska heads to Ontario. Utah goes to Idaho. Colorado plays Stockton.

UP NEXT - Wichita returns home tomorrow afternoon to host the Americans at 5:05 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-