Thunder Dropped 8-2 by Americans

Allen, TX (Jan. 16th) - Playing shorthanded against one of the top offenses in the ECHL, Wichita (18-13-2-4) fell on Friday night by the final score of 8-2 to Allen (26-5-1-2) at the Allen Event Center. Wichita led by a goal twice early in the contest before the Americans rolled off seven-unanswered to finish the game. Ian Duval and Todd Hosmer found the back of the net for the Thunder. Allen takes the season-series lead, 4-3-0-0 with another meeting coming tomorrow evening between the two teams.

Wichita has struck early in two of the last three trips to the Allen Event Center with tonight's coming 23 seconds in. Nikita Kashirsky drove the puck wide up the left wing and as he got to the net, Duval was Johnny on the spot banging home a rebound for the 1-0 lead. The Thunder had to kill off three penalties in the first 20 minutes and got through a two-man advantage situation. Allen led 11-6 in the shot department through one.

The Americans evened the game early in the second as Tyler Barr tipped home a shot from Nolan Descoteaux at 2:13. Hosmer re-claimed the lead at 11:51 with a break-a-way goal, sniping it past the glove of Aaron Dell to the upper right corner. Allen would answer quickly as Kevin Young's centering attempt pin-balled through some skates and got under Tyler Bunz to tie the game at two. His goal came 36 seconds after Wichita had its second lead of the night. The Americans wouldn't look back, grabbing control of the game with two goals in 46 seconds late in the second. Justin Baker gave Allen the lead for good at 18:19 with a power play goal and sixth of the season. At 19:05, Jesse Messier upped the lead to 4-2, giving Allen four goals in the period.

In the third, the scoring onslaught kept coming as the home team added four more. Kyle Follmer scored 2:49 in to make it 5-2. At 15:44, Aaron Gens added the second power play goal of the night for Allen and increased the lead to 6-2. Follmer scored the last two of the contest 14 seconds apart and finished the game with a hat trick and one assist. The final horn would sound with Wichita losing 8-2.

Ian Duval scored his sixth of the season and has goals in five-straight. He also pushed his point-streak to 11 games (6g, 6a). Hosmer recorded his 11th of the year and has goals in two consecutive games. Kashirsky added two helpers on the night. Bunz suffers his eighth loss of the year, stopping 22 of 30 shots. Dell claims his sixth win of the season, stopping 28 of 30 shots he faced.

Wichita went 0-for-6 on the power play. Allen was 2-for-7 with the man advantage.

Wichita remains in Allen tomorrow night for the eighth meeting of the season against the Americans at 7:05 p.m.

Individual tickets are on sale now. Don't delay! Tickets can be purchased at the INTRUST Arena Box office, by calling 755-SEAT or go online at www.selectaseat.com. Stay up-to-date on all the news during the season by visiting www.wichitathunder.com.

About the ECHL

The 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.

-Thunder-