Moline, IL (Feb. 6th) - Wichita plays a pair of games this weekend at Quad City. Get ready for tonight's action with today's Game Day Capsule below:
TONIGHT'S MATCH-UPWichita Thunder at Quad City Mallards - 7:05 p.m., i-Wireless Center, Moline, IL
WICHITAHOME: 11-7-0-2AWAY: 9-10-2-2OVERALL: 20-17-2-4
LEADING SCORERSLowe, 40 pts (15g, 25a)Miller, 34 pts (13g 21a) - suspended for tonight's gameHosmer, 24 pts (15g, 9a)
QUAD CITYHOME: 10-8-2-0AWAY: 11-7-2-2OVERALL: 21-15-4-2
LEADING SCORERSLamoureux, 42 pts (14g, 28a)Fox, 35 pts (14g, 21a)Lee, 24 pts (9g, 15a)
SEASON-SERIESNov. 26 INTRUST 2-0, WDec. 12 INTRUST 3-1, LJan. 3 INTRUST 3-2, WJan. 7 i-Wireless 4-3, L (OT)Jan. 9 i-Wireless 4-1, WJan. 28 i-Wireless 4-2, WJan. 30 INTRUST 3-1, LFeb. 6 i-Wireless 7:05 p.m.Feb. 7 i-Wireless 7:05 p.m.
HEAD-TO-HEAD - This is the eighth of 12 meetings between the Thunder and the Mallards. Wichita is 8-0-4 on the road against Quad City all-time and 17-5-4 overall..
TODAY - Wichita begins the month of February tonight in Moline, IL for the first of two games against the Mallards. Both teams are coming off of contests at Missouri, but with much different outcomes. The Thunder got shutout for the second time this season last Saturday by the final of 4-0 while Quad City claimed a 3-1 victory on Tuesday night. Both teams will be without key players as Joe Perry has been called up to the Iowa Wild and Danick Gauthier reassigned to the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League. Mario Lamoureux leads the way against Wichita with eight points. Four players have five points against the Mallards.
BUILDING A RIVALRY - Wichita and Quad City have seen each other seven times this season, four more than a year ago and still have five games left against one another. Wichita is averaging 27.2 penalty minutes a game over the last five meetings vs. the Mallards while Quad City is averaging 25.2 penalty minutes over the last five against the Thunder.
MISSING IN ACTION - Both teams will be without key players tonight. As noted above, Danick Gauthier and Joe Perry earned call-ups to the American Hockey League. Kenton Miller will serve the second of his two-game suspension for a hit against Quad City a week ago. He will be eligible to return to the line-up tomorrow night.
FLOCK - Wichita finishes a busy stretch against the Mallards this weekend. The Thunder will have played Quad City four out of the last five games, three of which have been at the i-Wireless Center. Wichita hosts the Mallards just one more time at INTRUST Bank Arena while coming to Moline on March 14th and March 27th.
BETWEEN THE PIPES - Tim Boron went 1-1-0-0 last week against Quad City and is 2-1-1-0 in the season-series. He has a goals against average of 2.49 and a save percentage of .918 in four appearances vs. the Mallards. Tyler Bunz has gone 2-1-0-0 with a goals against average of 1.35 and a save percentage of .944 against the Flock. On the other side, Parker Milner has had better success against the Thunder, going 3-0-0-0 with a goals against average of 1.50 and a save percentage of .952. Evan Mosher is 0-4-0-0 with a GAA of 3.04 and a save percentage of .894.
SPECIAL TEAMS - Wichita will look to slow down the Quad City power play tonight that has two goals on the man advantage in the last two meetings against the Thunder. Wichita has killed off 29 of 37 chances, good for a rate of 78.4%. The Thunder have gone 5-for-38, operating at 13.2% against Quad City.
MONTHLY LEADERS - Three players finished the month of January with 10 or more points to lead the way for the Thunder. Ian Lowe and Jared Walker each had 11 points (4g, 7a). Lowe finished the month with three on the man advantage and one shorthanded goal. Walker had one shorty and two game-winners during the month. Todd Hosmer was not too far behind, collecting 10 points (7g, 3a) and scored in six-straight games in January. Hosmer scored seven of his 15 goals on the season during the month.
BACK ON THE ROAD - Wichita will finish off a tough stretch that has seen the team away from home over the last two weeks. The Thunder finish off a three-game road swing this weekend at Quad City with a pair of games against the Mallards. Wichita is near the end of a span of eight road games over the last nine contests and will head to Allen on February 14th, which is in the middle of two home games. The Thunder are 9-10-2-2 on the road this season.
THUNDERBOLTS… Danick Gauthier is tied for 21st in goals (17), tied for eighth in power play goals (6) and tied for 17th in power play assists (9)…Jared Walker is tied for fifth in shorthanded goals (2)…Todd Hosmer is 20th in rookie scoring (24) while Ian Duval is tied in 34th (20)…Kenton Miller is in 10th place for shots on net (138)…Tyler Bunz and Tim Boron are tied for fifth in shutouts (2)…Wichita is 13th in shots for per game (30.93) and fourth in shots against per game (27.37)…Wichita is 6-2-0-1 when leading after one...Wichita is 11-8-0-0 when tied after one…Wichita is 6-3-1-1 when tied after two periods…Wichita is 13-10-1-2 when outshooting the opponent…
MALLARDS NOTES - Joe Perry has four goals against the Thunder...Quad City is 5-4-1-0 in their last 10 games, but has won three-straight...Quad City is 13-3-3-2 when scoring the first goal...Quad City is 5-2-3-1 when tied after two...Quad City is 3-8-0-0 when trailing after one...
AROUND THE ECHL - There are 11 other games tonight in the ECHL. Cincy takes on Elmira. Fort Wayne plays at Kalamazoo. Florida heads to Reading. Allen travels to Brampton. Orlando is at Gwinnett. Toledo is at Wheeling. Rapid City heads to Missouri. Indy goes to Evansville. Bakersfield is at Utah. Ontario takes on Colorado. Stockton goes to Alaska.
UP NEXT - Wichita remains in Moline tomorrow night to take on Quad City 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-