Late Push Comes up Short in Loss to IceMen

Wichita, KS (Jan. 10th) - In their first meeting since 2012, Wichita (17-12-2-4) fell behind in the second period to Evansville (11-18-2-2) and couldn't recover in a 5-3 loss on Saturday night at INTRUST Bank Arena. Jared Walker, RG Flath and Ian Duval provided the offense in the losing effort. Wichita falls to 0-1-0-0 on the season-series and is still looking for its first win against Evansville on home-ice. The two will square off tomorrow afternoon to finish off a two-game weekend set.

It didn't take the Thunder long to answer the call, scoring 1:30 into the contest. Gauthier fed a backhand to Flath, who blasted his own miss off the bar past Chris Driedger for his seventh of the season. Wichita got into penalty trouble in the first, getting called for three minors in the first frame. With just over four minutes left, Jakub Culek tied the game from the right hash mark with a knuckler that popped over Tim Boron. Shortly after, Kashirsky broke through two defenders and stepped in all alone on Driedger, but missed the net with a wrist shot.

The second period was a complete opposite of the first as the two teams combined for five goals. Donnie Harris gave the IceMen a 2-1 lead at 2:36 as he delivered from the top of the left circle past Boron's glove. Three minutes later, Matt Lowry found the back of the net after two Thunder defensemen ran into each other, leaving him all alone on a break-a-way and make it 3-1. At 9:16, Peter Sakaris potted his sixth of the season from the right circle that ran the streak of Evansville markers to four unanswered. Shortly after, Erick Lizon lit a fire under his teammates after dominating a fight against Randy Cure that led to Wichita getting back into the game. During a net-front scramble, Duval pulled the puck from below Driedger's leg pad and scored his fifth of the year. 38 seconds later, Walker connected with a shorthanded goal from the left circle as he and Lowe raced down on a two-on-one and got the Thunder within a goal.

Wichita came out firing in the third period, outshooting Evansville 10-3 in the frame. Driedger stood strong, denying the Thunder on two power play chances that came up empty. Kashirsky got behind the defense for the second time in the game, but he was stopped. Boron was pulled for the extra attacker as Wichita had an offensive zone face-off with just over one minute remaining. The IceMen stole the puck the corner and Jarret Lukin sealed it with an empty-netter to make it 5-3.

Duval extended his goal and point-streak, collecting goals in the last four-straight and points in his last 10 (5g, 6a). Walker pushes his point-streak to three-straight and has goals in back-to-back games. Flath potted his 80th goal in a Thunder uniform. Boron takes the loss, stopping 17 of 21 shots on net. Driedger earns his seventh win, stopping 26 of 29 shots he faced.

Wichita went 0-for-3 on the power play. Evansville was 0-for-6 with the man advantage.

Wichita finishes another four-game week tomorrow afternoon against Evansville at 5:05 p.m.

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-