Allen, TX (Nov. 10th) - Wichita heads to Allen, TX for the first meeting of the season with the Allen Americans. Get ready for the game with our Wichita Brewing Company Game Day Capsule.
TONIGHT'S MATCH-UPWichita at Allen - 7:05 p.m., Allen Events Center
WICHITAHOME: 3-2-0-0AWAY: 1-4-0-0OVERALL: 4-6-0-0
TEAM LEADERSGoals: Sakaris, Baptista, Martell, 3Assists: Huff, 6Points: Sakaris, Huff, 7+/-: Sakaris, +5PIM: Milan, 30
ALLENHOME: 2-1-0-0AWAY: 5-2-0-0OVERALL: 7-3-0-0
TEAM LEADERSGoals: Hanson, 5Assists: Costello, 8Points: Hanson, Costello, 10+/-: Baker, Roy, +7PIM: Stevenson, 17
SEASON-SERIESNov. 10 AEC 7:05 p.m.Nov. 20 INTRUST 7:05 p.m.Dec. 27 INTRUST 5:05 p.m.Dec. 30 INTRUST 7:05 p.m.Jan. 22 INTRUST 7:05 p.m.Jan. 23 INTRUST 7:05 p.m.Jan. 24 AEC 4:05 p.m.Feb. 6 AEC 7:05 p.m.Feb. 26 INTRUST 7:05 p.m.Feb. 27 AEC 7:05 p.m.Feb. 28 AEC 4:05 p.m.Mar. 12 AEC 7:05 p.m.Mar. 13 AEC 4:05 p.m.
HEAD-TO-HEAD - This is the 1st match up this season between the Thunder and the Americans. All-time, Wichita is 18-24-4 and 9-14-1 at Allen Events Center. The two teams will play 13 times this season. Six games will be played at INTRUST Bank Arena, and seven games at the Allen Events Center.
TODAY - Wichita heads to Allen tonight for the first meeting of the season between the Thunder and the Americans. The two teams will face each other 13 times. After tonight, Wichita will host Allen five-straight. Wichita is coming off a tough weekend, losing three in a row that started on Friday night in Quad City and finished with two one-goal losses to Missouri. The Americans are returning home after a three-game road swing with the last two coming in Rapid City and won both games in the Black Hills.
RIVALRY RENEWED - Wichita and Allen met earlier this year in the preseason, but haven't seen each other through the first 10 games of the season. The Thunder will get a heavy dose of the Americans during late December, early January when they see them four times from December 27th to January 23rd. After the first of the year, Wichita will travel to the Allen Event Center six of the last seven games in the season-series.
SEVEN-IN-NINE - The Thunder are currently in the middle of their toughest stretch of the season. The Thunder have already played three games this past week and will play four more times this week. They travel down to Allen on Tuesday, then they will return on Wednesday to Wichita to take on Tulsa, and then play Missouri back-to-back nights are INTRUST Bank Arena on Friday and Saturday.
MASKED MAN - David Shantz appeared in back-to-back games for the first time this season and stood tall despite not picking up a win. He stopped 63 of 66 saves, including 21 shots in the second period on Sunday afternoon against Missouri. His goals-against average dropped to 2.52 and his save percentage to .916.
SPECIAL TEAMS - Both teams come into today's game looking to improve on the power play. Allen is ranked 19th overall, operating at a clip of 12.5% while the Thunder ranks 28th at 5.1%. That may be a difficult task, going against two penalty killing units ranked in the top five in the ECHL. Allen is #1 overall, only allowing two goals on 36 chances (94.4%). Wichita has allowed just five goals on 44 chances (88.6%).
BUSY WEEK - Allen has a busy week as well, playing four games in seven days. The Americans have a three-in-three starting Friday night in Tulsa followed by back-to-back games against the Colorado Eagles.
THUNDERBOLTS...Anthony Deluca leads the team in shots with 27...David Shantz is 10th in saves with 164...Wichita is 11th in goals-against per game (2.60)...Wichita is 3-0-0-0 when leading after two...Wichita is 1-1-0-0 when leading after one...Wichita is 3-4-0-0 when outshot by the opponent...
ALLEN NOTES - Chad Costello is on a six-game point streak, collecting one goal and eight assists over that span...Costello is tied for fourth in the league with eight assists...Greger Hanson is tied for eighth in the league with five goals...Gary Steffes was loaned to San Jose of the AHL and leads the team with three power play goals...
AROUND THE ECHL - There are four other games tonight in the ECHL. Cincinnati heads to Wheeling. Manchester goes to Kalamazoo. Florida plays at Atlanta. Elmira takes on Norfolk.
UP NEXT - Wichita returns home on Veterans Day to host longtime rival, Tulsa, at 7:05 p.m.
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.
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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-