Thunder Offense Shut Down in 4-1 Loss to Mavericks

Wichita, KS (Jan. 12th) - Behind a solid performance from Stephon Williams and timely scoring, Wichita (9-22-1-4) fell to archrival Missouri (29-3-1-1) on Tuesday night by the final score of 4-1 at INTRUST Bank Arena. The Mavericks jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the Thunder cut it to one heading into the final frame. Wichita drops to 0-9-0-1 in the Independence Cup Series with the loss.

Landon Oslanksi had the lone Thunder tally while Eric Springer and Kenton Miller added helpers.

Just four minutes into the game, the Mavericks had a two-man advantage as Christian Isackson was sent off for hooking and seconds later, Dan Milan went off for delay of game. The Thunder survived the opportunity as David Shantz stood tall in net. That didn't last, however, when Sebastien Sylvestre recorded his 11th of the season on a rebound from his original shot at the side of the net and made it 1-0 at 12:08. Missouri took a two-goal lead when a bad bounce behind the Thunder net popped to Jesse Root and he slid it home before Shantz was able to recover. At 16:34, Oslanksi cut the lead to one with a blast from the blue line on the power play for his seventh of the year. In the third, the Mavericks capitalized on an Ian Lowe tripping penalty with a goal from Josh Holmstrom at 1:52 that made it 3-1. The Thunder enjoyed four-straight power plays over the next 12 minutes, but couldn't get another past Williams. Shantz was lifted for the extra attacker with less than two minutes to go in regulation, but Holmstrom added his second of the game at 17:45 as he found an empty net for his seventh of the year. Wichita had one more power down the stretch, but fell by the final of 4-1.

Wichita has recorded a power play goal in four-straight games. Oslanski pulls into the team-lead with seven goals and has scored in three-straight games. Shantz suffers the loss, stopping 19 of 22 shots. Williams earns his first win of the season, stopping 32 of 33 shots he faced.

The Thunder went 1-for-6 on the power play. Missouri was 1-for-4 on the man advantage.

Wichita heads on the road for the next three games starting on Friday night in Utah at 8:05 p.m. CST.

Individual tickets for all games are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased at the INTRUST Arena Box office, by calling 855-755-SEAT or go online at www.selectaseat.com.

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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.

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