West Valley City, UT (Oct. 16th) - Wichita fell behind in the first period and couldn't recover in a 7-1 loss to Utah on Wednesday night at the Maverik Center.
Chris Crane tallied the lone goal for the Thunder in the losing effort.
Utah zipped out to a hot start, scoring four times in the first period. Josh Dickinson scored back-to-back goals just five minutes apart to make it 2-0. Griffin Molino increased the lead to 3-0 at 10:07. Just over a minute later, Travis Barron notched his first of two on the night to make it 4-0.
In the second, Dickinson netted his hat trick goal at 2:10 to make it 5-0. Wichita got on the board at 2:21 when Chris Crane found a rebound off a shot from Patrik Parkkonen and beat Jeff Smith to make it 5-1. Barron recorded his second of the contest at 15:44 on the power play to make it 6-1.
The only goal of the third came from Joe Wegwerth at 11:39. He stole a puck near the Utah line, skated down on a breakaway and beat Gillam for his first of the season and the first shorthanded goal against the Thunder.
Wichita remains winless at the Maverik Center all-time, going 0-6-4 against Utah on the road in the series. Crane has goals in three-straight games to start the season. Beau Starrett and Parkkonen picked up the helpers.
The Thunder remains on the road this week with a pair of games against the Idaho Steelheads beginning Friday night at 8:10 p.m. CST.
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