Thunder Closes Homestand With SO Loss to Eagles

Wichita, KS (Feb. 21st) - Wichita closed a five-game homestand on Wednesday night, falling in a shootout to Colorado by the final of 2-1 at INTRUST Bank Arena.

Wichita gains a point and moves seven ahead of Allen for third place in the Mountain Division with 63.

Ralph Cuddemi scored the lone Thunder goal and Nick Riopel stopped 43 shots in the shootout loss.

After both teams battled through a scoreless first, Cuddemi put the Thunder on top at 4:57 of the second. Chad Butcher found him across the slot and he beat Joe Cannata over the glove for his 21st of the season. The Eagles tied the game at 11:57 when Teigan Zahn dumped the puck into the left corner, took a bad bounce near the net and Ryan Olsen capitalized to equal the score at one.

The two goalies stood firm in the third, stopping a combined 19 shots and the game headed into overtime. The extra session took flight three minutes in as both teams had end-to-end rushes. Joey Ratelle nearly ended it at 2:15 of OT as his shot sailed off the post. For the second time in the last three games, Wichita headed into a shootout.

Michael Joly and Matt Register both scored for Colorado while Ralph Cuddemi and Nick Latta were both stopped by Cannata.

Wichita moves to 1-1 in games decided by penalty shots. Cuddemi has goals in back-to-back games. Lane Bauer and Butcher added assists on his goal.

Wichita went 1-for-2 on the power play. Colorado was 0-for-1 on the man advantage.

The Thunder heads out of town for the next two games to face the Utah Grizzlies starting Friday at 8:05 p.m. CST.

Individual tickets for all games are on sale now. Season tickets are still available for purchase. Get your seats for just $15 per month. All it takes is a $50 deposit per seat to reserve yours today. To learn more, click here or contact a Thunder representative at the office today!

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