Game Day: Wichita at Indy, January 2nd

Indianapolis, IN (Jan. 2nd) - Wichita returns to Indianapolis for the first time since the 2003-04 season to take on the Indy Fuel tonight. Get ready for the match-up with this Wichita Brewing Company Game Day Capsule:

TONIGHT'S MATCH-UPWichita at Indy - 6:35 p.m. CST, Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Indianapolis, IN

WICHITAHOME: 5-8-1-2AWAY: 2-12-0-1OVERALL: 7-20-1-3

TEAM LEADERSGoals: Andy Huff, 7Assists: Joey Sides, 11Points: Andy Huff, 15+/-: Neal, +3PIM: Milan, 49

INDYHOME: 7-7-0-0AWAY: 7-10-2-0OVERALL: 14-17-2-0

TEAM LEADERSGoals: Garett Bembridge, 10Assists: Alex Lavoie, 16Points: Alex Lavoie, 25+/-: Nick Mattson, +5PIM: Dylan Clarke, 53

SEASON-SERIESNov. 25 INTRUST 5-1, WJan. 2 Indiana Farmers 6:35 p.m. CST

Wichita is 1-0-0-0 vs. Indy

HEAD-TO-HEAD - This is the second and final meeting of the season between the Thunder and the Fuel. Wichita won the first meeting between the two teams by the final of 5-1 on Thanksgiving Eve.

TODAY - Wichita makes its only trip of the season to Indiana Farmers Coliseum to take on the Fuel in the team's first game of 2016. The Thunder won the first-ever meeting between the two teams on Thanksgiving Eve by the final of 5-1. Indy played last night and lost at home against the Fort Wayne Komets, 2-1. Wichita dropped its last contest to Missouri on New Year's Eve by the final of 7-1. Both teams are looking to get back in the win column as the Thunder have lost their last six while the Fuel dropped a pair of games to the Komets and have lost two-straight.

RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR - Wichita and Indy both rang in the New Year on the road this past Thursday. Both teams had similar outcomes as the Fuel got beat in Fort Wayne by the final of 7-0 and the Thunder lost at Missouri 7-1.

FUEL AND ICE - Tonight is the first trip for the Thunder to Indianapolis since the 2003-04 season. The Indianapolis Ice were a member of the CHL before leaving the league and joining the USHL. Wichita lost the last meeting against the Ice on February 25th, 2004 at home by the final of 3-2. The Indy Fuel joined the ECHL last season. Wichita went 11-25-3 all-time against the Ice.

STREAKING - Mason Baptista has points in his last three games (2g, 1a) and goals in two of the last three. Michael Neal has assists in three-straight and points over his last four (1g, 3a). Joey Sides has assists in four-straight including a goal on December 30th (1g, 4a).

SERIES LEADERS - Garett Bembridge scored the lone goal against the Thunder on Thanksgiving Eve. Wichita is led by Danick Gauthier, who had two goals against the Fuel. Andy Huff, Brandon Martell and Kenton Miller each found the back of the net in the only meeting against the two teams.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN - Wichita plays its first game of 2016 on the road tonight against the Fuel. The Thunder are in the middle of a three-game road trip, closing out its Indiana swing tomorrow afternoon against the Evansville IceMen at 5:15 p.m.

THUNDERBOLTS...Andy Huff leads the team in goals (7) and points (15)...Danick Gauthier leads the team in shots with 77...Wichita is 5-0-0-1 when leading after two...Wichita is 3-5-0-1 when tied after one...Wichita is 5-6-1-3 in one goal games...Wichita is 1-1-0-0 in four-goal games...

INDY NOTES - Mac Carruth, who returned to Indy from Rockford last night, is 14th in GAA (2.46) and 16th in save percentage (.919)...Shane Owen started last night's game and gave up two goals on 28 shots...Ben Marshall is tied for 16th in rookie scoring with 18 points (4g, 14a)...

AROUND THE ECHL - There are 13 other games tonight in the ECHL. Greenville takes on Manchester. Elmira goes to Kalamazoo. Adirondack plays at Reading. Florida goes to Orlando. Cincinnati takes on South Carolina. Fort Wayne travels to Toledo. Atlanta is in Norfolk. Brampton faces Wheeling. Allen goes to Quad City. Missouri heads to Evansville. Tulsa is in Rapid City. Colorado takes on Idaho. Utah remains in Alaska.

UP NEXT - Wichita heads to Evansville tomorrow afternoon to face the IceMen at 5:15 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-