Game Day Capsule: Wichita at Rapid City, January 23rd

WICHITAHOME: 11-6-0-2AWAY: 7-8-2-2OVERALL: 18-14-2-4

LEADING SCORERSLowe, 37 pts (14g, 23a)Gauthier, 33 pts (15g, 18a)Miller, 28 pts (10g, 18a)

RAPID CITYHOME: 6-11-0-1AWAY: 10-10-0-1OVERALL: 16-21-0-2

LEADING SCORERSSchultz, 33 pts (13g, 20a)Clarke, 25 pts (9g, 16a)Soudek, 21 pts (10g, 11a)

HEAD-TO-HEAD - This is the sixth of nine meetings between the Thunder and the Rush. All-time, Wichita is 17-29-6 against Rapid City and 10-15-2 on the road.

TODAY - Wichita remains on the road this weekend with two games in the Black Hills against the Rapid City Rush. After tomorrow's contest, Wichita will not return to the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center down the stretch. The next meeting between the two teams will be on February 20th in Wichita. Rapid City returns home tonight after a three-game road trip and will play five more on the road after this weekend set at home against the Thunder. Wichita is coming off of two losses in Allen last weekend. Jesse Schultz leads the way for the Rush against the Thunder with five points. Five different Thunder players have four points against the Rush.

NEARING 500 - Erick Lizon had quite the stat line on Saturday night. He recorded his sixth of the year while also racking up 16 penalty minutes. Lizon took over the team-lead in PIM with 103 and needs one more goal to equal a career-high of seven that he set back in 2008-09 with the Laredo Bucks of the CHL. The veteran forward from Kitchener, Ontario will appear in his 460th professional game tonight.

BIG HOSS - Todd Hosmer recorded his 12th tally of the season on Saturday night on the power play. He has goals in three-straight games and 20 points (12g, 8a) so far this year. Last season, he played for the Mississippi RiverKings of the SPHL, racking up 55 points in 40 games and being named to the SPHL First All-Star Team. He also led the league in goals last season with 37.

STAYING HOT - Rookie forward Ian Duval extended his streak last weekend to 12 games (6g, 7a) and has found the score-sheet in 15 of the last 16 contests. He added a goal and an assist over the weekend, pushing him up to 20 points (6g, 14a).

BACK IN TOWN - Tim Boron will make his final trip to a place he called home for the last four years prior to coming to the Air Capital. He's played four times against Rapid City this year, going 1-2-0-1 with a GAA of 3.19 and a save percentage of .882. His former battery mate, Danny Battochio, is 2-2-0-0 against the Thunder in four appearances, sporting a 2.95 GAA and a save percentage of .899.

TURNING THINGS AROUND - Wichita is coming into tonight's match-up looking to turn things around. The Thunder have lost three of the last four and only two wins in the last seven games. Rapid City has won two of its last three, but just 4-6-0-0 in their last 10 games.

HOME vs. ROAD - Rapid City is tied for second-to-last in the Central Division with just six wins at home. Wichita fell below .500 with two road losses last weekend and are 7-8-2-2.

THUNDERBOLTS… Danick Gauthier is tied for 17th in goals (15), tied for 10th in power play goals (5) and tied for 15th in power play assists (8)…Ian Lowe is tied for fourth in power play goals (6)...Tyler Bunz and Tim Boron are tied for fourth in shutouts (2)…Wichita is tenth in shots for per game (31.45) and third in shots against per game (27.18)…Wichita is 5-2-0-1 when leading after one...Wichita is 11-5-0-0 when tied after one…Wichita is 6-3-1-1 when tied after two periods…Wichita is 13-8-1-2 when outshooting the opponent…Wichita is 8-3-2-4 in one-goal games...

RAPID CITY NOTES - JP Chabot is tied for fourth in power play goals (6)...Jesse Schultz is tied for sixth in power play assists (10)...Danny Battochio is tied for 17th in GAA (2.69) and tied for first with three shutouts...Rapid City is one spot behind Wichita in penalty killing (85.4%, 6th place)...Rapid City will not see another team outside of the Central Division...Rapid City is 11-4-0-1 when scoring first...

AROUND THE ECHL - There are 11 other games today in the ECHL tonight. Kalamazoo goes to Toledo. Greenville travels to Orlando. Elmira crosses the border to Brampton. Florida is at Gwinnett. Allen heads to Indy. Fort Wayne plays at Wheeling. Evansville goes to Cincinnati. Tulsa plays at Missouri. Bakersfield heads to Utah. Colorado plays Stockton. Idaho travels north to Alaska.

UP NEXT - Wichita continues its five-game road swing tomorrow night in Rapid City.

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-