Thunder Battles Back; Falls Short In OT

WICHITA, Kan. (Feb. 26) - Wichita returned home on Friday night to begin a 10-game homestand and opened with a 5-4 overtime loss to Rapid City on Friday night at INTRUST Bank Arena. 

The Thunder hopped out to a 2-0 lead, but gave up four-unanswered and trailed heading into the third. Wichita scored twice in the final frame and forced overtime.

Peter Crinella recorded a pair and Anthony Beauregard tallied markers while eight others collected points in the losing effort. 

Wichita jumped out to a quick 2-0 advantage in the first as Crinella and Beau Starrett scored twice in a 31-second span. Stephen Baylis cut the lead to one at 16:13 as he fired a wrist shot from the slot while he was falling and beat Evan Weninger. His tally started-a four-goal outburst for the visitors. 

In the second Tyson Empey tipped home a shot from Jack Suter and tied the game at 11:41. Hunter Garlent gave Rapid City a 3-2 lead at 18:12 as he cut across the front of the Thunder net and beat Weninger. 

Baylis scored his second of the night at 52 seconds of the third to increase the Rush lead to 4-2. Wichita battled back to pull even as Crinella recorded his second at 6:51, beating Adam Carlson from the left circle. At 11:31, Beauregard tallied his seventh of the year off a beautiful pass from Stefan Fournier to tie the game at four.

The Thunder thought they took the lead with eight minutes left, but a play near the net was waived off as Spencer Dorowicz was called for kicking the puck in with his skate. Regulation wound down and for the first time in the season-series, overtime was needed. 

Early in the extra period, Rapid City played keep away from the Thunder, but couldn't get one past Weninger. Wichita brought the puck back into the offensive zone, but a turnover near the Rapid City blueline led to the game-winner. Ian Edmondson buried a one-timer at 2:38 of the extra frame and helped the Rush to a 5-4 win. 

Wichita recorded a power play goal and has power play markers in three-straight games. Beauregard extended his point-streak to 13 games. 

The Thunder remains at home tomorrow night to host Rapid City at 7:05 p.m.

Single game tickets are on sale now. Click here to purchase tickets or call the Thunder office at 316-264-4625.

ECHL TV has a new provider for the 2020-21 season. We are proud to partner with FloHockey, which provides subscribers with plenty of content. Watch live events across all screens by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Chromecast. To become a subscriber, click here.

Follow along with us on our social media platforms on Facebook (@wichitathunder1), Twitter (@wichita_thunder), Snapchat (wichthunder), Instagram (Wichita_Thunder) and LinkedIn.

-Thunder-