Rupert, Arseneau Push Wichita Past Mavs in High Scoring Contest

Wichita (Jan. 14th) - Ryan Rupert had four points and Vincent Arseneau scored twice as Wichita fended off the Missouri Mavericks by the final of 7-5 on Saturday night at INTRUST Bank Arena. Areseneau recorded the game-winner with less than four minutes left, which helped the Thunder re-gain the lead after Missouri scored three-unanswered in the third to tie the game.Wichita jumped out to a three-goal advantage early in the opening period. Rupert got things started five minutes into the game as caught a pass from Zach O'Brien and fired a shot to the blocker side of Eamon McAdam. Alexis Loiseau made it 2-0 at 6:46 with his team-leading 16th goal of the season on the power play. Alexis Vanier tacked on his third of the season at 10:54 with a blast from the point on the power play that made it 3-0. Dan Correale tallied his first of two at 14:07 to help Missouri cut into the lead that made it 3-1. Arseneau re-gained a three-goal advantage just 20 seconds later with assists to David Friedmann and Matt DeBlouw. McAdam was chased from the game and Josh Robinson came on in relief. At 16:43, Correale added his second from Kevin Tansey and Dane Fox that closed a high-scoring first period at 4-2. The only goal of the second came from O'Brien, who finished with three points and was named the game's number three star. He caught a beautiful pass from Loiseau at the front of the net and made it 5-2. Missouri began a furious rally just two minutes into the third. Carter Verhaeghe, who had two goals in the frame, recorded a power play goal that made it 5-3. Just over a minute later, Rocco Carzo got into the act and cut the lead to 5-4. Verhaeghe scored his second of the period at 12:08 that tied the game at five. Arseneau potted the game-winner at 16:14 after getting a pass from DeBlouw near the right circle and beat Robinson with a wrist shot to the blocker side. Rupert recorded his second at 17:36 with assists to O'Brien and Brandon Carlson to make it 7-5.Wichita has recorded two or more power play goals in back-to-back games and has five on the man advantage in their last two contests. The Thunder had 28 shots in the first period, which is a new-season high for shots in a period. Rupert (2g, 2a), Arseneau (2g), O'Brien (1g, 2a), DeBlouw (3a), and Loiseau (1g, 2a) all had multi-point outings. The two teams combined for 99 shots on net. Owsley stopped 42 of 47 shots in the winning effort. Robinson took the loss, stopping 24 of 27 shots he faced. Wichita went 2-for-5 on the power play. Missouri was 1-for-3 on the man advantage. The Thunder heads back on the road to Allen for a pair of games starting on Friday night at 7:05 p.m.Individual tickets for all Thunder home games are now on sale. Tickets can be purchased at the INTRUST Arena Box office, by calling 855-755-SEAT or go online at www.selectaseat.com.Contact a Thunder representative at the office today to learn more about our great season, group and other ticket packet opportunities!Follow along with us on our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter (@wichita_thunder), Snapchat (wichthunder), Instagram (Wichita_Thunder) and LinkedIn, presented by Wichita Brewing Company.

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