Game Day Capsule: Wichita at Rapid City, January 24th

WICHITAHOME: 11-6-0-2AWAY: 7-9-2-2OVERALL: 18-15-2-4

LEADING SCORERSLowe, 38 pts (15g, 23a)Gauthier, 35 pts (15g, 20a)Miller, 29 pts (11g, 18a)

RAPID CITYHOME: 7-11-0-1AWAY: 10-10-0-1OVERALL: 16-21-0-2

LEADING SCORERSSchultz, 38 pts (14g, 24a)Clarke, 25 pts (9g, 16a)Erickson, 21 pts (3g, 18a)

HEAD-TO-HEAD - This is the seventh of nine meetings between the Thunder and the Rush. All-time, Wichita is 17-30-6 against Rapid City and 10-16-2 on the road.

TODAY - Wichita looks to rebound this evening after falling 5-4 to the Rush last night. The Thunder have lost three in a row and four of their last five while the Rush have won three of their last four contests. The Thunder remain in a three-way tie for second with Quad City, who was off last night, and Tulsa. The Oilers lost last night against Missouri. Rapid City sits six points back from the pack in their attempt to climb out of the cellar to a playoff spot. Jesse Schultz leads the way for the Rush with 10 points against Wichita and had a goal and four assists last night. Danick Gauthier has six points against Rapid City and had two assists last night.

NEW HIGH - Jared Walker recorded his ninth goal of the season last night and needs one more to set a new career-high. The third-year pro has collected nine goals in each of his first two seasons and has already equaled that total through 39 games this year.

BIG HOSS - Todd Hosmer recorded his 13th tally of the season last night. He has goals in four-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.

ALL-STAR - Danick Gauthier added two assists last night, pushing his totals to 35 points and 20 assists on the season. He stopped a three-game drought without registering a point and collected his 12th multi-point game of the year. The All-Star forward represented Wichita well this past Wednesday in Orlando as he scored the ECHL All-Star's first goal of the game.

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 3-2-0-0 against the Thunder in five appearances, sporting a 2.76 GAA and a save percentage of .902. Yesterday was the second time this season that Battochio has come on in relief against the Thunder. He was forced into action on December 13th in a 5-0 win for the Thunder after Etienne Marcoux got the hook.

TURNING THINGS AROUND - Wichita is coming into tonight's match-up looking to turn things around. The Thunder have just two wins in their last eight games and have lost their last three. Rapid City has won three of its last four and earned its seventh win at home last night.

QUICK HITTER - The two teams combined for three goals in 41 seconds last night. Wichita scored first, but the Rush answered 21 seconds later. Kenton Miller re-gained the lead for the Thunder 20 seconds after Jesse Schultz got the Rush on the board.

THUNDERBOLTS… Danick Gauthier is tied for 19th in goals (15), tied for 10th in power play goals (5) and tied for eighth in power play assists (9)…Ian Lowe is tied for second in power play goals (7)...Tyler Bunz and Tim Boron are tied for fifth in shutouts (2)…Wichita is 12th in shots for per game (31.28) and third in shots against per game (27.08)…Wichita is 5-2-0-1 when leading after one...Wichita is 11-6-0-0 when tied after one…Wichita is 6-3-1-1 when tied after two periods…Wichita is 13-9-1-2 when outshooting the opponent…Wichita is 8-4-2-4 in one-goal games...

RAPID CITY NOTES - Jesse Schultz equaled the franchise scoring mark with five points last night and needs one more to move past Scott Wray for the all-time lead in points (236)...Danny Battochio is tied for 16th in GAA (2.69) and tied for first with three shutouts...Rapid City is one spot behind Wichita in penalty killing (85.2%, 7th 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 12 other games tonight in the ECHL. Greenville takes on Orlando. Elmira plays at Brampton. Florida takes on Gwinnett. Reading heads to South Carolina. Allen plays at Toledo. Kalamazoo goes to Cincinnati. Evansville travels to Indy. Fort Wayne goes to Wheeling. Quad City plays at Missouri. Bakersfield takes on Utah. Colorado is at Stockton. Idaho remains in Alaska.

UP NEXT - Wichita finishes up its five-game road swing on Wednesday night at Quad 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-