Game Day Capsule: Wichita at Missouri, December 31st

WICHITAHOME: 9-5-0-2AWAY: 5-5-1-2OVERALL: 14-10-1-4 LEADING SCORERSGauthier, 27 pts (14g, 13a)Lowe, 28 pts (10g, 18a)Miller, 25 pts (9g, 16a) MISSOURIHOME: 6-6-0-1AWAY: 7-6-1-1OVERALL: 13-12-1-2 LEADING SCORERSThinel, 26 pts (8g, 18a)Courtney, 19 pts (10g, 9a)Sparks, 18 pts (7g, 11a) HEAD TO HEAD - This is the seventh of 10 meetings this season between the Thunder and the Mavericks. Wichita is 14-9-3 on the road and 33-20-3 all-time.

TODAY - Wichita closes out 2014 on the road against the Missouri Mavericks. The Thunder won yesterday's meeting at INTRUST Bank Arena in overtime by the final of 3-2. The victory along with a Tulsa loss moves Wichita alone into third place with 33 points and two back of Quad City for second. The Thunder have one game in hand on Quad City and three on Tulsa. Missouri is led by Sebastien Thinel, who earned his 1,000th career point last night and now has 26 points on the season. Ian Lowe leads Wichita with 28 points while Danick Gauthier has 27 and both players have goals in back-to-back games.

POINT STREAK - Wichita has claimed at least a point in their last six games, going 5-0-0-1 in that stretch and has earned 11 out of a possible 12. 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.

60+ - Over the last four games, the Thunder have needed more than regulation time to resolve the outcome. During that stretch, Wichita has won two games in overtime, one in a shootout and lost one to Rapid City in penalty shots.

BACK TO BACK - Ian Lowe, Danick Gauthier and RG Flath have provided the offense over the last two games. Lowe finished with three points last night and has a power play goal in back-to-back games. Gauthier has goals in consecutive contests and has the team-lead in markers with 14. Flath scored the game-winner in the shootout last Saturday and found the back of the net in overtime to propel Wichita to a 3-2 win last night.

STREAKING - Kenton Miller continues to burn his old team. In six games, he has eight points (4g, 4a) with three goals on the power play. He extended his point-streak to a season-high six games (2g, 6a). Ian Duval has points in his last four games (1g, 4a).

THUNDERBOLTS… Danick Gauthier is tied for 12th in goals (14), tied for third in power play goals (5) and tied for fifth in power play assists (8)…Tyler Bunz is eighth in the league in goals against average (2.39) while Tim Boron is in 15th place (2.58)…Tyler Bunz and Tim Boron are tied for second in shutouts (2)...Wichita is sixth in shots for per game (31.93) and second in shots against per game (26.34)…Wichita is 4-1-0-1 when leading after one...Wichita is 8-2-0-0 when tied after one…Wichita is 5-3-1-1 when tied after two periods…Wichita is 11-7-0-2 when outshooting the opponent…Wichita is 6-2-0-0 in two-goal games...

MISSOURI NOTES - Sebastien Thinel has four points against Wichita (3g, 1a)…Mike Clemente is 0-3-0-0 against Wichita with a 4.12 GAA and SVPCT of .869…Missouri is last in the league on the power play (10.4%) and second to last on the penalty kill (78.4%)…

AROUND THE ECHL - There are nine other games tonight. Toledo takes on Brampton. Elmira heads to Reading. Florida is in South Carolina. Indy travels to Fort Wayne. Cincy goes to Kalamazoo. Rapid City plays at Tulsa. Quad City goes to Evansville. Ontario is in Stockton. Utah is at Alaska.

UP NEXT - Wichita starts the New Year on home-ice this coming Saturday against Quad City at 7 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-