Thunder Gut Out 2-1 Win at Tulsa

Tulsa, OK (Dec. 17th) - Tim Boron stopped 29 shots while Wichita (11-10-1-3) got a pair from their blueline en route to a 2-1 victory over Tulsa (13-10-1-2) at the BOK Center on Wednesday night. Mike Wilson and Kirill Tulupov each collected their third of the season in the winning effort. Wichita improves to 2-2-1-3 in the StoneWolf Casino Cup Series and earned its first regulation victory at the BOK Center this season.

Wichita got off to a good start in the first. Ian Lowe had two good chances on a pair of two-on-one breaks, but Kevin Carr kept the puck out of the net. Nikita Kashirsky found a seam coming through the neutral zone, but was also denied by Carr. At 6:42, Tulsa took a 1-0 lead when Charles Lachance got a good bounce after his shot hit Boron and made its way over the line. Wichita answered late as Tulupov fired a wrist shot past Carr's blocker to even things at 17:54.

In the second, the Thunder controlled the front half of the period while getting into penalty trouble in the second half. Wichita led 9-1 in shots, but committed three-straight minors starting at the nine minute mark allowing Tulsa to find some offense. After killing off all three chances, Wilson gave the Thunder their first lead with less than two minutes to go. Meland found him with a nice pass across the zone and Wilson buried it past Carr for his third of the season.

Wichita had two power play chances in the third, but couldn't convert on either. Tulsa pressed down the stretch, pinching their defenseman in an atttempt to find the equalizer. Boron stood tall between the pipes and held off the Oilers attack, which fired 12 shots on net in the final 20 minutes.

The Thunder had six different players tally points tonight. Wilson recorded his third goal in the last four games and has the game-winner in back-to-back contests. Lowe collected his 14th assist of the season, which is a team-high in that category. Boron earned his second-straight win, stopping 29 of 30 shots on net. Carr took the loss, stopping 33 of 35 shots he faced.

Wichita went 0-for-4 on the power play. Tulsa was 0-for-6 with the man advantage.

The Thunder will finish its two-game road trip on Friday night against the Allen Americans at 7:05 p.m. Wichita returns home on Sunday, December 21st to take on the Rapid City Rush at 5:05 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-