Game Day: Wichita at Rapid City, December 8th

Rapid City, SD (Dec. 8th) - Wichita heads to the Black Hills tonight to take on the Rapid City Rush for the first time this season. Get ready for the match-up with our Wichita Brewing Company Game Day Capsule:

TONIGHT'S MATCH-UPWichita at Rapid City - 7:35 p.m., Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, Rapid City, SD

WICHITAHOME: 5-5-0-1AWAY: 1-5-0-0OVERALL: 6-10-0-1

TEAM LEADERSGoals: Gauthier, 5Assists: Sakaris, 9Points: Sakaris, 13+/-: Milan, Huff, +2PIM: Milan, 39

RAPID CITYHOME: 6-4-0-1AWAY: 4-3-1-0OVERALL: 10-7-1-1

TEAM LEADERSGoals: Cohen, 5Assists: Day Chief, 9Points: Day Chief, 13+/-: Young, +10PIM: Bonneau, 43

SEASON-SERIESDec. 8 Rushmore 7:35 p.m.Apr. 1 Rushmore 8:05 p.m.Apr. 2 Rushmore 8:05 p.m.

HEAD TO HEAD - This is the first meeting of the season between the Thunder and the Rush. All-time, Wichita is 19-31-6 against Rapid City and 11-16-2 on the road in the series.

TODAY - Wichita makes its first trip of the season to the Black Hills to take on the Rapid City Rush. The Thunder lost on Saturday night at Missouri by the final of 5-2. Rapid City made a southern swing to take on Tulsa and Allen last week, splitting the two-game set with a win in Tulsa by the final of 4-2 and losing at Allen on Friday night, 3-1. After tonight, the Thunder will not see the Rush until April 1st when the Thunder play a pair of games to close the season-series.

BLACK HILLS - Wichita plays Rapid City just three times this season and all three meetings are at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center.

FAMILIAR FACES - Brandon Martell, Joey Sides, Landon Oslanski, and Andy Huff return to a place they once called home last season. Martell appeared in 17 games last year for the Rush before being sent to Evansville. Sides played in just 12 games before his season was cut short due to injury. Oslanski played in 35 games last year for the Rush before being traded to Missouri. Huff played in eight games for Rapid City last year before being sent to Florida.

SPECIAL TEAMS - Both teams come in power play units that have struggled this year, but have been solid on the penalty kill. Rapid City is 24th on the power play, going 8-for-57 (14%) while the Thunder are 28th, going 6-for-76 (7.9%). The Rush are the #2 ranked penalty kill, allowing seven goals on 56 times being shorthanded (87.5%). Wichita is 13th overall, giving up 15 power play goals against on 89 times being shorthanded (83.1%). Over the last four games, Wichita has gone 4-for-14 on the man advantage, good for a clip of 28.6%.

SCORING FIRST - There's no secret that teams this year have been successful when they score the first goal of the game. Rapid City comes into tonight's contest with a record of 7-1-0-1 while the Thunder are 4-2-0-1 when scoring first. Overall, teams are 205-68-11-11 when they light the lamp before their opponent.

SCORING EARLY - Out of the 40 goals the Thunder have scored this season, 18 of those have come in the first period.

THUNDERBOLTS...Peter Sakaris and Danick Gauthier leads the team in shots with 49...Martin Nemcik and Landon Oslanksi picked assists in their first games in a Thunder uniform on Saturday at Missouri...Wichita's penalty kill is ranked ninth at home (86%) and 13th overall (83.1%)... Wichita is 4-0-0-1 when leading after two...Wichita is 3-3-0-0 when tied after one...Wichita is 4-3-0-1 in one goal games...

RAPID CITY NOTES - Marek Langhamer was named Goaltender of the Week for the week ending November 29th, stopping 45 of 46 shots in two victories...Langhamer, who was called-up to the Arizona Coyotes in November, is fourth in save percentage (.936)... Destry Straight is tied for second in game-winning goals with three...Winston Day Chief leads the team in shots with 42...Rapid City is second on the penalty kill, operating at 87.5%...

AROUND THE ECHL - There are no other games tonight in the ECHL.

UP NEXT - Wichita heads south to take on the Colorado Eagles on Wednesday night at 8:05 p.m. CST

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.

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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-