Game Day: Tulsa at Wichita, December 26th

Wichita, KS (Dec. 26th) - Wichita returns to action after the Christmas holiday tonight against longtime rival, Tulsa, in the StoneWolf Casino Cup Series. Get ready for the match-up with this Wichita Brewing Company Game Day Capsule: TONIGHT'S MATCH-UPTulsa at Wichita - 7:05 p.m., INTRUST Bank Arena, Wichita, KS

WICHITAHOME: 5-7-0-1AWAY: 2-11-0-1OVERALL: 7-18-0-2

TEAM LEADERSGoals: Huff, 7Assists: Sakaris, 9Points: Huff, 14+/-: Neal, -1PIM: Milan, 45

TULSAHOME: 8-6-2-0AWAY: 4-4-0-1OVERALL: 12-10-2-1

TEAM LEADERSGoals: Clark, 10Assists: Brown, 14Points: Pleskach, 19+/-: Brown, +12PIM: Gagnon, 62

SEASON-SERIESOct. 16 BOK 3-2, WNov. 11 INTRUST 2-1, W (SO)Nov. 27 BOK 2-0, LNov. 28 INTRUST 4-2, LDec. 18 BOK 3-2, W (OT)Dec. 19 BOK 3-2, L (SO)Dec. 26 INTRUST 7:05 p.m.Jan. 8 INTRUST 7:05 p.m.Jan. 9 BOK 7:05 p.m.Feb. 14 BOK 7:05 p.m.Apr. 6 INTRUST 7:05 p.m.Apr. 8 INTRUST 7:05 p.m.Apr. 9 BOK 7:05 p.m.

Wichita is 3-2-0-1 vs. Tulsa

HEAD-TO-HEAD - This is the seventh meeting of the season between the Thunder and the Oilers. All-time, Wichita is 134-112-24 against Tulsa and 74-50-12 at home in the series.

SKID SNAPPED - Wichita entered the weekend looking to get back on track after dropping its previous seven contests. The Thunder did just that on Friday night in a 3-2 overtime win at Tulsa. Wichita earned a point in a shootout loss the following night and claimed three out of four points in the StoneWolf Casino Cup Series.

GOALIE MATCH-UP - David Shantz and Kevin Carr have been solid in the season-series. Carr has started the last four games against the Thunder, going 3-0-1-0, carrying a goals-against average of 1.71 and save percentage of .924. Shantz is 3-1-0-0 against Tulsa, carrying a 1.71 goals-against average and a save percentage of .931. Three of Shantz's five wins have come against Wichita's longtime rival.

SERIES LEADERS - Kenton Miller leads Wichita with three goals and five points against the Oilers. He tallied the game-tying goal last Saturday to force overtime. Danick Gauthier and Logan Nelson each have four points against Tulsa this season. Adam Pleskach has five points (1g, 4a) for the Oilers against the Thunder and is followed by Brady Ramsay with three goals.

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS - Wichita remains at home for the next three games before heading out of town before the New Year. The Thunder hosts Tulsa on Saturday, December 26th, takes on Allen on Sunday afternoon and then finishes its brief home-stand with the Americans on Wednesday, December 30th.

THUNDERBOLTS…Andy Huff leads the team in goals (7) and points (14)...Danick Gauthier leads the team in shots with 64......Wichita's penalty kill is ranked seventh at home (85.5%) and 12th overall (83.2%)... Wichita is 5-0-0-1 when leading after two...Wichita is 3-4-0-0 when tied after one...Wichita is 5-5-0-2 in one goal games...

TULSA NOTES - Kevin Carr has started in each of the Oilers last 12 games and ranks second in the ECHL in minutes played (1,076)...Dennis Brown leads the Oilers with 14 assists, which is what he totaled all of last year in Ontario...Manitoba sent Axel Blomqvist and Aaron Harstad down last week...Dan DeSalvo is tied for 13th in rookie scoring with 18 points (6g, 12a)...Phil Brewer is tied for first in shootout goals (2)...

AROUND THE ECHL - There are 11 other games tonight in the ECHL. Manchester takes on Adirondack. Reading goes to Elmira. Greenville plays at Atlanta. Norfolk travels to South Carolina. Wheeling is in Toledo. Kalamazoo heads to Fort Wayne. Missouri takes on Allen. Indy plays at Quad City. Cincinnati travels to Evansville. Rapid City goes south to Colorado. Utah is in Idaho.

UP NEXT - Wichita finishes the weekend with a meeting tomorrow against Allen at 5:05 p.m.

Individual tickets for all games are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased at the INTRUST Arena Box office, by calling 855-755-SEAT or go online at www.selectaseat.com.

Follow along with us on our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter (@wichita_thunder), Snapchat (wichthunder), Instagram (Wichita_Thunder) and LinkedIn, presented by Wichita Brewing Company.

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-