Kalamazoo, MI (Dec. 10th) - Wichita couldn't hold onto a one-goal lead heading into the third period, losing 3-2 to Kalamazoo on Sunday afternoon at Wings Event Center.
Mark MacMillan and Matt DeBlouw scored for the Thunder in the losing effort.
The first period was a defensive standoff. Wichita had three quality scoring chances off the rush, but Joel Martin stood tall. On the other end, Shane Owen stopped all 13 shots he saw in the first frame.
Kalamazoo got on the board first early in the second period. Tyler Heinonen put home a rebound at 1:35 near the right post and made it 1-0. The Thunder answered with back-to-back goals just 53 seconds apart. MacMillan caught a seam pass from Greg Chase and beat Martin with a backhand to tie the game at 18:12. Evan Polei found a loose pick 53 seconds later, went in on a breakaway, got stopped by Martin and DeBlouw buried a rebound to make it 2-1.
In the third, Justin Taylor tied the game with a slap shot from the top of the right circle at 9:18. Tyler Biggs potted the eventual game-winner with six minutes left. He fired a wrist shot from the right face-off dot that Owen appeared to stop, but it just trickled over the line. Wichita had the puck in the offensive zone with Owen pulled for a minute, but couldn't get a shot through on Martin.
MacMillan, who missed last night's game, notched his team-leading 11th of the year. DeBlouw recorded his seventh and has five goals in his last five games. Owen suffers his second loss, stopping 39 of 42. Martin earns the win, stopping 29 of 31 shots he faced.
Wichita went 0-for-2 on the power play. Kalamazoo was 0-for-3 on the man advantage.
The Thunder continues their five-game road trip next Wednesday with a trip to Fort Collins to face the Colorado Eagles at 8:05 p.m. CST.
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