Thunder Tame Beast with 4-1 Win

Wichita, KS (Feb. 27th) - Wichita (25-20-2-5) got back on track Friday night, knocking off Brampton (17-33-2-0) by the final score of 4-1 at INTRUST Bank Arena. Four different Thunder players found the net while a solid defensive effort helped Tim Boron to his 19th win of the season. The Thunder improve to 2-1-0-0 in the season-series and will play Brampton three times in Canada one week from tonight.

Eric Meland led all scorers with two points while Danick Gauthier, Ian Duval, Kirill Tulupov and Nikita Kashirsky found the net for the Thunder.

Each team lit the lamp in the first period. Duval scored at 8:06 to put Wichita up 1-0. Meland found him open after keeping the puck in at the Beast line and Duval outlasted Trevor Cann for his 10th of the season. At 12:58, Chad Painchaud recorded his 23rd of the year and fourth of the week with a shot from the left circle with assists to Justin Donati and David Ling.

The Thunder dominated the second period, outshooting the Beast 21-7 in the frame. Gauthier recorded his 21st of the year at 15:08, which would eventually hold up as the game-winner. Cann got caught out of the net and Gauthier slipped it past several defenders to make it 2-1. Boron didn't see a lot of rubber, but made a fine save on a Jason Pitton breakaway chance that helped Wichita take a 2-1 lead into the intermission.

In the third, Wichita pulled away with two goals from their Russian contingent. Tulupov increased the lead to 3-1 with a power play tally at 1:45. He had a few chances earlier in the shift, but finally put a wrist shot past Cann from the top of the right circle for his sixth of the year. With time winding down, Jared Walker intercepted a pass at the top of the left circle in his own end, fed it up ahead and Kashirsky finished it into the empty net with his 12th of the season at 19:24.

Wichita finally broke through against Brampton on the power play, scoring its first of the season-series in the third. Gauthier pushed his scoring streak to six games, tallying nine points in that span (4g, 5a). Kashirsky has goals in three-straight and points in his last four (3g, 2a). Tulupov recorded his third power play goal of the year, which accounts for half of his season-total. Boron took the victory in his ninth-straight start, stopping 26 of 27 shots. Cann suffered his 16th loss of the season, stopping 34 of 37 shots he faced.

Wichita went 1-for-3 on the man advantage. Brampton went 0-for-2 on the power play.

Wichita is off tomorrow night, but will return to action on Sunday afternoon as the Allen Americans come to town starting 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-