Thunder Claims First Regulation Win vs. Missouri

Wichita, KS (March 19th) - Paxton Leroux and Ian Lowe scored goals 29 seconds apart and David Shantz stopped 40 shots to help Wichita (16-36-6-6) get past Missouri (47-10-3-2) on Saturday night at INTRUST Bank Arena.

The Thunder had four different goal scorers including Leroux, who tallied his first of the season.

Leroux and Lowe got the Thunder on the board two minutes into the game. Leroux re-directed a shot off the post past Josh Robinson to make it 1-0. Lowe tallied his 13th of the season to make it 2-0 at 2:32, also a re-direction off a shot from Dan Milan.

In the second, each team found the back of the net. Darian Dziurzynski fired home a one-timer from the slot through David Shantz to get the Mavericks on the board. Less than three minutes later, Isackson scored on the power play to re-gain a two-goal advantage.

Bryce Aneloski cut the Wichita lead to one with a power play goal at 5:05 of the third as his slap shot from the blue line got through traffic and make it 3-2. His goal came during a sequence when the Thunder had to kill off a six-minute penalty as Martin Nemcik was sent off for a double minor for a high stick and two minutes for interference. The Mavericks pulled Josh Robinson with just over three minutes left in regulation, but Andy Huff shut the door with an empty-net goal to make it 4-2.

Wichita has won two-straight in the Independence Cup Series and its first in regulation against the Mavericks. Leroux was an assist short of a Gordie Howe hat trick, scoring his first of the season and a fighting major. Miles Koules extended his point-streak to five games with an assist and nine points over that span (3g, 6a). Isackson continues to stay hot as well, scoring his 12th of the season and has points in eight of his last nine outings (4g, 6a). Shantz claimed his second-straight win, stopping 40 of 42 shots. Robinson suffers his first regulation loss of the season, stopping 25 of 28 shots.

Wichita was 1-for-2 on the man advantage. Missouri went 2-for-12 on the power play.

Wichita and Missouri will close out the Independence Cup Series tomorrow afternoon at 5:05 p.m.

Individual tickets for all games are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased at the INTRUST Arena Box office, by calling 855-755-SEAT or go online at www.selectaseat.com.

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About the ECHLThe 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.

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