WICHITAHOME: 6-4-0-1AWAY: 3-4-1-2OVERALL: 9-8-1-3 LEADING SCORERSGauthier, 21 pts (11g, 10a)Lowe, 17 pts (5g, 12a)Miller 15 pts (7g, 8a) TULSAHOME: 7-4-1-1AWAY: 4-4-0-1OVERALL: 11-8-1-2 LEADING SCORERSBooras, 25 pts (10g, 15a)Pleskach, 20 pts (13g, 7a)Caig, 21 pts (9g, 12a) HEAD TO HEAD - This is the seventh of 14 meetings between the Thunder and the Oilers. Wichita is 1-1-1-3 this season vs. Tulsa. All-time, Wichita is 130-104-22 and 57-59-11 on the road against the Oilers.
TODAY - Wichita finishes its four-game road swing this evening at the BOK Center against the Tulsa Oilers. Tonight's match-up is the 257th all-time meeting between the two franchises and seventh in the StoneWolf Casino Cup Series. The Thunder are coming off of a 5-1 loss at Elmira in the first-ever meeting with the Jackals while Tulsa lost 2-1 at Missouri on December 6th. Tulsa is led by Jon Booras, who has 25 points and T.J. Caig, who has 21. Wichita is led by Danick Gauthier, who has 21 points and Ian Lowe, who has 17 so far this season.
MONEY'S WORTH - Wichita and Tulsa have played the allotted amount of time against each other and then some. Four of the six meetings have been decided past regulation and three of the last four have gone into a shootout. Each team has claimed one win in regulation outside of the contests that have needed to go past 60 minutes and only one game has been decided by more than one goal.
MAN UP - Wichita has been solid this season against the Oilers on the power play, going 5-for-27 and good for a 18.5% clip. The penalty kill has killed off 19 out of 21 chances for Tulsa, operating at 90.5%. Both are above the season averages for each unit.
MIDDLE MEN - Wichita's best offensive period has been the second. The Thunder have a scoring edge of 22-14 over their opponents so far this season. The first period is where the team has struggled, being outscored 20-12 and has given up the first goal in the last five games.
SIN BIN - Wichita finished Sunday's game with 102 penalty minutes and 18 infractions while the Jackals had 116 minutes and 21 infractions. Those totals are now new season-highs for the Thunder for most penalty minutes in a game and most combined penalty minutes between the two teams. 218 combined penalty minutes is the most in a game since Saturday, February 5th, 2011 at Fort Wayne when the two teams combined for 205 PIM.
THUNDERBOLTS… Danick Gauthier is tied for ninth in goals (11)...Kenton Miller and Gauthier are tied for fifth place in power play goals (4)...Tyler Bunz is currently in seventh place in goals against average (2.32)...Wichita is 2-1-0-1 when leading after one...Wichita is 5-2-0-0 when tied after one…Wichita is 4-3-1-1 when tied after two periods…Wichita is 7-6-0-2 when outshooting the opponent…Wichita is 6-1-0-0 in two-goal games...
OILERS NOTES - Jon Booras is tied for fifth place in scoring with 25 points...Adam Pleskach is in fifth place in goals scored with 13...Tommy Mele is eight in penalty minutes (71)...Kevin Carr leads the league in saves (536) and minutes played (1124)...Tulsa is 7-1-0-2 when scoring first...Tulsa is 8-0-0-0 when leading after one...Tulsa is 4-1-0-0 when tied after two...Tulsa is 1-5-0-0 when trailing after one...
AROUND THE ECHL - There are seven other games tonight in the ECHL. Gwinnett takes on Kalamazoo. Toledo goes to Wheeling. Elmira is in Florida. Quad City plays at Allen. Alaska is at Utah. Stockton goes to Colorado. Bakersfield plays at Ontario. 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-