Gauthier Hat Trick Propels Thunder to 3-1 Win

Brampton, ON (Dec. 6th) - Danick Gauthier provided all the offense as the Thunder (9-7-1-3) rallied down by one in the final period to earn a 3-1 victory over Brampton (7-8-1-0) on Saturday afternoon at the Powerade Centre. Gauthier tied the game shortly after the Beast got on the board in the beginning of the third period. He went on to score the game-winner with three minutes left and iced the game with an empty-netter for his 11th of the season. Wichita pulls even with Brampton in the season-series 1-1-0-0 and will finish the weekend across border against the Elmira Jackals tomorrow afternoon.

After 40 minutes of scoreless hockey, Brampton scored the first goal of the game at 8:04 of the third. Dale won a battle to a loose puck behind the Thunder net and centered a pass to Calin Wild. His one-timer got past Tim Boron for the 1-0 lead. Wichita answered quickly as Gauthier lifted a wrist shot over the blocker shoulder of Grant Rollheiser to even it at one a-piece. With three minutes left in regulation, Gauthier recorded his second of the game after his shot from just in front of the crease redirected off a defenseman over Rollheiser into the back of the net. Brampton pressed down the stretch and pulled Rollheiser with a minute to go in the contest. Gauthier stole a loose puck just inside the Thunder line, skated out to center and found the empty-net for his hat trick goal to end it at 3-1.

Gauthier's first professional hat trick is the first for the Thunder this season and first since January 27th, 2013 against Denver (Matt Robinson). Boron claims his fifth win of the year, stopping 32 of 33 shots on net. Rollheiser takes the loss, stopping 35 of 37 shots he faced.

Wichita went 0-for-4 on the power play. Brampton was 0-for-5 with the man advantage.

Wichita plays tomorrow afternoon 4:05 p.m. against the Elmira Jackals for the first time in franchise history.

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-