Game Day: Wichita at Rapid City, April 1st

Rapid City, SD (April 1st) - Wichita kicks off the final month of the regular season with two games in the Black Hills. Get ready for the match-up with this Wichita Brewing Company Game Day Capsule:

TONIGHT'S MATCH-UPWichita at Rapid City - 8:05 p.m., Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, Rapid City SD

WICHITAHOME: 10-17-3-4AWAY: 7-21-3-2OVERALL: 17-38-6-6Last 10: 5-5-0-0Streak: 1-0-0-0Rank: 4th place, Central Division, 46 points

TEAM LEADERSGoals: Kale Kerbashian, Kenton Miller, 14Assists: Kale Kerbashian, 27Points: Kale Kerbashian, 41+/-: Michael Neal, -2PIM: Dan Milan, 124

RAPID CITYHOME: 15-13-1-2AWAY: 13-19-2-2OVERALL: 28-32-3-4Last 10: 5-4-0-1Streak: 1-0-0-0Rank: 4th place, West Division, 63 points

TEAM LEADERSGoals: Ryan Walters, 23Assists: Ryan Walters, 31Points: Ryan Walters, 54+/-: Ryan Walters, Michael Young, +3PIM: Jimmy Bonneau, 66

SEASON-SERIESDec. 8 Rushmore 7-2, LApril 1 Rushmore 8:05 p.m.April 2 Rushmore 8:05 p.m.

Wichita is 0-1-0-0 vs. Rapid City

HEAD TO HEAD - This is the second meeting of the season between the Thunder and the Rush. Alltime, Wichita is 19-32-6 against Rapid City and 11-17-2 on the road in the series.

TODAY - Wichita heads to the Black Hills tonight to face the Rapid City Rush for just the second time this season. Both teams are coming off of victories in their last outings. The Thunder knocked off Quad City on Tuesday night by the final of 1-0 while the Rush got past Alaska by the final of 2-0. Wichita plays Rapid City three times this year with all three meetings coming at Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. The Rush won the first meeting of the year back in December, 7-2. Both teams are outside the playoff picture with Rapid City currently sitting in 11th place with 63 points and Wichita in 14th with 46 points. Kale Kerbashian faces his former team for the first time since being acquired in a trade in January.

SHUT DOWN - David Shantz shut down the Quad City Mallards on Tuesday night, stopping all 37 shots to preserve his eighth-career ECHL shutout. Not only was it the team's first shutout of the season, it was also Shantz's 11th professional shutout of his career.

LAND OF OZ - Landon Oslanski scored the team's only goal on Tuesday, which snapped a scoreless drought for the third-year defenseman out of Camrose, Alberta. His last goal was on February 12th against South Carolina. He has 11 on the season, eight of which have come in Wichita. He leads all ECHL defenseman with nine power play goals, tied for second in power play points (18) and second in shots on net with 179.

FIRSTS - Wichita won its first game of the year when scoring just one goal and its first Tuesday night contest of the season. The Thunder finished 1-2-0-1 on Tuesdays this season.

IDES OF MARCH - Wichita closed out the month March on a high note. The Thunder finished the month 6-5-0, going 3-3-0 at home and 3-2-0 on the road. The only other month that the team was above .500 was in October, when the Thunder finished 4-3-0.

END OF THE ROAD - Wichita heads out on the road tonight for the first time in two weeks. Over the team's six-game homestand, the Thunder went 3-3-0. Wichita has three games left on the road including tonight and two home games next week against Tulsa.

THUNDERBOLTS...Landon Oslanski leads the team in shots (179)...Lowe and Andy Huff are tied for 10th in the ECHL in shorthanded goals (2)...Dan Milan leads the team with 124 penalty minutes...Wichita is first in the league in minor penalties (378)...Wichita is 11-1-1-1 when leading after two...Wichita is 11-11-6-6 in one-goal games...

RAPID CITY NOTES - Lindsay Sparks and Ryan Walters have been solid editions for the Rush with Walters tallying 13 points in 12 games (4g, 9a) and Sparks recording 25 points in 26 games (8g, 17a)...Rapid City is 9-1-2-0 when leading after one...Rapid City is 16-4-1-2 when tied after one...

AROUND THE ECHL - There are 12 other games today in the ECHL. Norfolk takes on Adirondack. Kalamazoo goes to Greenville. Orlando plays at South Carolina. Toledo hosts Manchester. Elmira takes on Brampton. Atlanta is in Florida. Reading heads to Wheeling. Allen travels to Missouri. Tulsa goes to Quad City. Cincinnati plays at Evansville. Alaska is in Utah. Idaho takes on Colorado.

UP NEXT - Wichita and Rapid City close out the regular-season series tomorrow night at 8:05 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 ECHLThe 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 over 500 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-