Thunder Drops Exhibition Contest to Allen

Wichita, KS (Oct. 8th) - Gary Steffes scored two goals for the visitors as the Thunder dropped their only preseason contest to the Allen Americans on Saturday night by the final of 2-0. The two teams skated to a first period deadlock. Wichita came out firing, outshooting the Americans 10-5 after the first 20 minutes. Blake Tatchell and Matt DeBlouw led the way for the Thunder with three shots each in the contest. Wichita had the first two power plays, but were unable to get one past Allen netminder Riley Gill.

Steffes broke the scoreless tie at 10:05 of the second after receiving a pass near the net through traffic from Joel Chouinard to make it 1-0. Shortly after, both teams made changes in net as Jamie Murray came in for the Americans while Alex Vazzano came in for the Thunder.

In the third, Steffes tallied his second of the contest at the midway point, getting a feed from Kerbashian to increase the lead to 2-0. Wichita pulled Vazzano late, but couldn't get one past Murray and the Americans grabbed a 2-0 victory.

Wichita falls to 1-1 against Allen in preseason play all-time. Gill and Murray combined on a 22-save shutout for the Americans. Drew Owsley, who started for the Thunder, stopped nine of 10 shots he faced as did Vazzano.

The Thunder will open the regular season at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday, October 15th against the Tulsa Oilers. Stay tuned this week for the Opening Night roster.

Tickets are still available for Opening Night and fans can still purchase a season ticket package. Options range from all 36 games to 10-game packages. Contact a Thunder ticket representative this week for more information.

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