Parkkonen's Game Winner Lifts Wichita Past Kansas City in OT

INDEPENDENCE, MO (Feb. 23) - Patrik Parkkonen scored with 0.2 seconds left on the clock in overtime to send Wichita to a 4-3 win over Kansas City on Tuesday night at Cable Dahmer Arena.

Parkkonen led Wichita with three points while Austin McIlmurray added two goals. Evan Weninger stopped 39 shots for his ninth win of the season.

For the second game in a row, Kansas City scored first and didn't waste any time in the opening frame. Adam Brady connected with a wrist shot at 1:12 to make it 1-0.

McIlmurray tied the contest at 9:53 of the second with a power play tally. He caught a pass between the circles and fired a shot that somehow found its way past Matt Ginn. With less than a minute to go in the period, Marcus Crawford fired a desperation wrist shot from the blue line that got past Weninger to make it 2-1.

Matteo Gennaro tied it at two at 4:55 of the third with his 10th of the season. He came through the neutral zone, cut to the right wing and fired a shot that squirted through Ginn. At 10:25, Zach Osburn regained the lead for Kansas City with a wrist shot from the edge of the right circle to make it 3-2. Less than a minute later, McIlmurray caught a pass in the slot and put a wrist shot on net. The puck popped up in the air, appeared to hit Ginn as he was turning around and went in to make it 3-3. Kansas City was awarded a power play on the next shift, but failed to break the tie. Overtime would eventually be needed to decide a winner.

The Mavericks were given another power play in the extra session as Anthony Beauregard took down Lane Scheidl through the slot. Kansas City gave up two quality shorthanded chances to the Thunder, but Ginn kept the puck out of the net. With time winding down, Brayden Watts stole a puck in the left corner, fed Parkkonen in the slot and he beat Ginn across the goalmouth with a backhand for the win.

Wichita has come from behind in three-straight games for the victory. Parkkonen tallied a goal and two helpers. McIlmurray recorded his first two-goal game as a pro. Beauregard added an assist, giving him points in 12-straight games.The Thunder returns home for the next 10 games, which begins with a four-game set against Rapid City starting on Friday, February 26.

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