Thunder Snaps Skid In Front of 11,809 Fans

Wichita, KS (Feb. 2nd) - In front of 11,809 fans in attendance, Wichita knocked off arch-rival, Tulsa, by the final score of 4-1 on Friday night at INTRUST Bank Arena.

With the win, the Thunder leads the StoneWolf Casino Cup Series 3-2-0-0 and snaps a two-game slide.

Shaquille Merasty scored twice, Kevin Dufour added his 12th of the season and Joel Rumpel stopped 30 shots to earn his 11th win of the year.

Tulsa struck first just 6:49 into the game as Dan DeSalvo fought through a check and beat Rumpel from the right circle to make it 1-0. Merasty tied it with five minutes to go in the frame. He was near the bottom of the right circle when he fired a wrist shot past Devin Williams. Just three minutes later, Dufour beat Williams with a wrist from the slot to make it 2-1.

After a scoreless second, Merasty increased the lead to 3-1 with three minutes to go in regulation. He caught a pass up the right wing and put a wrist shot past Williams for his second of the game. Tulsa pulled Williams with just over a minute to go, but Kyle Platzer fired a shot from between the circles near Rumpel's net and scored to make it 4-1.

Merasty tallied his first two-goal game of his pro career. Dufour added his third point of the week against the Oilers and seventh point in the season-series (3g, 4a). Chad Butcher registered three assists. Rumpel won in his first start since January 6th.

Wichita went 0-for-6 on the power play. Tulsa was 1-for-6 on the man advantage.

The Thunder heads on the road for the next six games starting tomorrow night against Quad City at 7:05 p.m. Note, there will not be a Thunder radio broadcast tomorrow night. Fans can watch live on ECHL-TV, at Pucks Sports Bar or by going to the Quad City Mallards website.

Individual tickets for all games are on sale now. Season tickets are still available for purchase. Get your seats for just $15 per month. All it takes is a $50 deposit per seat to reserve yours today. To learn more, click here or contact a Thunder representative at the office today!

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-Thunder-