Thunder Lose High-Scoring Contest at Tulsa

Tulsa, OK (Dec. 10th) - In a high-scoring affair on Wednesday night, Wichita (9-9-1-3) couldn't slow down the Tulsa (9-9-1-2) offense losing by the final score of 7-4 at the BOK Center. Ian Lowe recorded a pair of goals while Kenton Miller had two assists on the night. Wichita drops to 1-2-1-3 against Tulsa this season in the StoneWolf Casino Cup Series.

Just 15 seconds in, tempers started to boil over as a post-whistle scrum took place near the penalty boxes. Lowe and Noble went off for roughing minors for two minutes. Tulsa went on to enjoy two power plays and cashed in on their second opportunity. Drew Fisher walked out on the left side of the net and roofed a shot over Tim Boron to make it 1-0. Tulsa increased their lead to 2-0 just 49 seconds later after Kyle O'Kane came from behind the goal line and slipped one in for his eighth of the season. Wichita cut the lead to one at 18:41 when Ian Lowe's shot from behind the net banked through Kevin Carr and squirted just inside the post to make it 2-1.

In the second, the two teams combined for five goals. Danick Gauthier recorded his sixth power play tally of the year at 2:48 that tied the contest at two. The Oilers re-gained their two-goal advantage at 5:29 when Jon Booras stole a loose puck at the Thunder line, came down the seam on the right circle and beat Boron under the blocker. Steve Mele increased the lead to 4-2 just 20 seconds later with assists to Tommy Mele and Charles Lachance. Lowe pounced on a rebound at 11:34 to cut the lead back to one, 4-3, just after a Thunder power play expired and scored his second of the night. 20 seconds later, Wichita had a great chance to pull even once again as Jeff Jubinville took a boarding penalty at 11:53 and Nathan Lutz was called for a cross check at 12:51. The Oilers got through the first power play and eventually would kill the second opportunity to hold onto their lead. At 17:01, Scott Macaulay found the twine from the blue line on the man advantage and made it 5-3.

Wichita would not go away easily, however. Mike Wilson scored his first of the season on a one-timer from the right circle at 5:44 of the third that cut the lead back to one. The Oilers kept pushing and eventually put the game away for good as Adam Pleskach recorded the last two of the night to make it 7-4. His first came at 10:06 and his second coming at 18:05.

Lowe recorded his first multi-goal game of the season while Miller notched two assists in a game for the first time as well. Gauthier finished with a goal and an assist, which is his eighth multi-point outing of the year. Boron took the loss, stopping 35 of 42 shots he faced. Carr earned his sixth win against the Thunder, stopping 37 of 41 shots on net.

Wichita went 2-for-6 on the power play. Tulsa was 3-for-9 with the man advantage.

Wichita returns home on Friday, December 12th to take on the Quad City Mallards at 7:05 p.m. The Thunder will then host the Rapid City Rush on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. Friday night is Union Night and Saturday is the annual Teddy Bear Toss and Toys for Tots, presented by Bank of the West and Hajoca.

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-