Thunder Weekly - January 12th

LAST WEEK'S GAMES -

Wednesday, January 7th Wichita at Quad City, 4-3 L (OT) - Wichita climbed out of a three-goal hole to force overtime, but lost in the extra session as Mario Lamoureux scored a power play goal for the Flock. Friday, January 9th Wichita at Quad City, 4-1 W - Jared Walker, Ian Duval and Danick Gauthier blew open a tight game with three goals in the final period to help the Thunder split the two-game series against Quad City. Saturday, January 10th Evansville at Wichita, 5-3 L- For the third time this week, Wichita had to fight out of a three-goal differential only to fall short on Saturday night to Evansville. The IceMen scored four unanswered before Duval and Walker got the Thunder back into the game. Sunday, January 11th Evansville at Wichita, 4-3 W- Tyler Bunz earned his second win of the week while Jared Walker scored the game-winner with under eight minutes to go to seal the victory. THIS WEEK'S GAMES - Friday, January 16th Wichita at Allen, 7:05 p.m., online stream only at ustream.com. Search Wichita Thunder Saturday, January 17th Wichita at Allen, 7:05 p.m., online stream only at ustream.com. Search Wichita Thunder **Pre-game begins 15 minutes prior to start of all games. All games can be heard on www.wichitathunder.com or on your smart phone with the UStream App using the keyword Wichita Thunder**

TEAM CAPSULEOverall: 18-12-2-4Home: 11-6-0-2Road: 7-6-2-2Last 10: 6-2-1-1Streak: 1-0-0-0Rank: 2nd in Central Division, 42 points

TEAM LEADERSGoals: Gauthier, 15Assists: Lowe, 22Points: Lowe, 36+/-: Meland, Trebish ,+7PIM: Milan, 82

NEAR THE TOP - Wichita went 2-1-1-0 this week and moved alone into second place ahead of Tulsa and Quad City. The Thunder split two games in Quad City before returning home to host Evansville for a pair. The Thunder have 42 points, two ahead of the Oilers and have two games in hand on Tulsa. The Thunder have gone 6-2-1-1 in their last 10 contests and won eight of their last 13. 162 - Head Coach Kevin McClelland claimed his 162nd win behind the Thunder bench last night and now is the franchise's all-time winningest coach. The former four-time Stanley Cup winner is one shy of 350 victories for his career. In his fifth season in the Air Capital, McClelland is 349-213-54 in 620 games as a professional head coach.

CLOSE CALL - Wichita's streak of one-goal games was stopped on Friday night in a 4-1 win at Quad City, which was nine-straight. The Thunder are 8-3-2-4 in one-goal contests this season. POWER UP - Ian Lowe found the back of the net on the man advantage last night, stopping the Thunder's scoreless streak on the power play. Wichita had gone 0-for-19 before he beat Scott Greenham for his first of two on the night. He moved into a tie for second with six power play goals and has points in 11 of his last 12 games (7g, 9a). WALK THE LINE - Jared Walker is nearing his career-best in points after an outstanding week for the third-year pro. He recorded seven points this past week (3g, 4a) to go along with two game-winners and a shorthanded goal. The former Chicago Blackhawks draft pick recorded two points in three out of four games, has goals in three-consecutive and needs six more points to tie his career-best from his rookie season in Bloomington (9g, 16a=25pts).

FOUR - Ian Duval continued to stay red-hot this past week and extended his point-streak to 10 games (5g, 9a). Despite missing last night's contest, the rookie out of the University of Manitoba has 18 points (5g, 13a) in 21 games. He also has goals in four-straight games.

MILLER TIME - Kenton Miller is having a career-year and earned a call-up today to the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League (AHL). The Redvers, Saskatchewan native has already surpassed his numbers from last season, recording 28 points (10g, 18a) in 30 games so far this year. This will be his second call-up of his career, having played in six games for the Chicago Wolves in 2012-13. The 6-foot, 196-pound forward began the season in camp with the Monarchs before being sent back down.

THIRD PERIOD SCORING - Wichita remained hot in the third period over the weekend. Over the last six games, the Thunder have outscored their opponents 12-4 in the final frame. Wichita has a 365-311 shot advantage in the third while unloading 130 more than its opponent in the second (430-300).

CENTRAL TIME ZONE - Wichita played its last game of the season against a team outside of the Central Division yesterday. The Thunder went 1-2-0-0 against outside of the division, losing to Elmira at the beginning of December and splitting the weekend series with Evansville. THUNDERBOLTS… Danick Gauthier is tied for 16th in goals (14), tied for ninth in power play goals (5) and tied for 12th in power play assists (8)…Tyler Bunz is sixth in the league in goals against average (2.28) while Tim Boron is in 16th place (2.70)…Tyler Bunz and Tim Boron are tied for fourth in shutouts (2)…Wichita is ninth in shots for per game (31.53) and third in shots against per game (27.03)…Wichita is 5-1-0-1 when leading after one...Wichita is 11-4-0-0 when tied after one…Wichita is 6-3-1-1 when tied after two periods…Wichita is 13-8-0-2 when outshooting the opponent…

UP NEXT - Wichita begins a five-game road swing this week against the Allen Americans on Friday, January 16th at 7:05 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-