Offense Comes Alive in Shutout Win vs. Mavericks

Wichita, KS (Nov. 22nd) - The Thunder offense came alive on Saturday night, blowing past the Missouri Mavericks (5-7-0-0) by the final score of 6-0 at INTRUST Bank Arena. Danick Gauthier, Ian Lowe, Theo Peckham and Nikita Kashirsky each had two points while Tyler Bunz collected his second professional shutout with a 27-save performance. Wichita (5-5-1-2) leads the Independence Cup Series 3-1-0-0 and will make their first trip of the season to the IEC next Friday.

Wichita got on the scoreboard first with a power play goal at 7:58. After a board battle took place in the left corner, RG Flath was able to get the puck back to Peckham and his wrist shot got redirected in past Mike Clemente. The goal was awarded to Danick Gauthier, who was set up in the slot with Todd Hosmer who may have also gotten a piece of the shot.

Early in the second, Michael Trebish scored his first of the season after Flath stole it at the Thunder blue line, sprung an odd-man rush and his wrist shot beat Clemente to the blocker side. His tally came just 45 seconds into the period. At 6:30, Kirill Tulupov increased the lead to 3-0 with a long wrist shot from just inside the Mavericks line that beat Clemente to the glove side. The offense wasn't done, adding an exclamation point with just one second remaining. Gauthier recorded a power play goal with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle that beat the buzzer and a commanding 4-0 lead heading into the final 20 minutes.

At the start of the third, John Griggs was forced into action as Clemente's night was finished. He wouldn't fare much better, allowing two goals on 10 shots in relief. A long outlet pass from Eric Meland found Nikita Kashirsky behind the Mavericks defense at 6:06 and he fed a saucer pass across to Kenton Miller who buried it to make it 5-0. The final nail came from Ian Lowe at 12:46 as he recorded a shorthanded goal and finished the scoring for a 6-0 victory.

Wichita reached six goals for the first time this season. The Thunder reached the 30-shot plateau for the seventh-straight game and outshot the Mavericks 31-27. 12 players found the scoresheet while five had two-point nights. Bunz earned his first shutout of the season, stopping all 27 shots he faced. Clemente took the loss, stopping 17 of 21 shots on net.

Wichita went 2-for-6 on the power play, which is the second game in a row the Thunder had two goals against the Mavericks on the man advantage. Missouri was 0-for-5 with the man advantage.

The Thunder finish the weekend with a road match-up in the StoneWolf Casino Cup Series against the Tulsa Oilers tomorrow afternoon at 4:05 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-