Thunder Weekly - January 5th

LAST WEEK'S GAMES -

Tuesday, December 30th Missouri at Wichita, 3-2 W (OT)- After taking a 2-0 lead in the third period, Missouri got a pair of late goals from Sebastian Thinel to force the game into overtime. At the 3:31 mark in overtime, RG Flath found the back of the net to give Wichita the win. Ian Lowe had three points (1g, 2a) in the contest. Tim Boron was solid, stopping 17 of 19 shots on net and collecting his 10th win of the season. It was the fourth-straight game that Wichita played past 60 minutes. Wednesday, December 31st Wichita at Missouri, 4-3 W - Mike Wilson scored his fourth goal of the year early in the first period. The Thunder recorded second-period goals from Lowe, Meland, and Hosmer to help secure the second win of the week against Missouri on New Year's Eve. Hosmer (1g, 1a), Trebish (2a) and Gauthier (2a) each scored two points. Wichita outshot Missouri 26-23 and Boron saved 20 shots en route to his second win of the week. Saturday, January 3rd Quad City at Wichita, 3-2 W- Tim Boron started his eighth consecutive game and got his third win of the week, stopping 30 of 32 shots. Wichita was trailing 2-1 in the third when Ian Duval found Kenton Miller in front of the net to tie the contest. At the 4:30 mark, RG Flath snuck one past Evan Mosher to put the Mallards away. The teams combined for 15 penalties on the evening. Sunday, January 4th Wichita at Allen, 3-2 L- Tyler Bunz got his first start since coming back to the Thunder from Oklahoma City and stopped 35 of 38 shots. Nikita Kashirsky potted his sixth goal of the year and Ian Duval got his second, but it wasn't enough to beat the division-leading Americans. THIS WEEK'S GAMES - Wednesday, January 7th Wichita at Quad City, 7:05 p.m., online stream only at ustream.com. Search Wichita Thunder Friday, January 9th Wichita at Quad City, 7:05 p.m., online stream only at ustream.com. Search Wichita Thunder Saturday, January 10th Evansville at Wichita, 7:05 p.m., online stream only at ustream.com. Search Wichita Thunder - Sonic, Premier Martial Arts and Atomic Billboards presents Thunderdog's Birthday Bash

Sunday, January 11th Evansville at Wichita, 5:05 p.m., online stream only at ustream.com. Search Wichita Thunder- Brandon Steven Motors Buy-In Night

**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: 16-11-1-4Home: 10-5-0-2Road: 6-6-1-2Last 10: 7-2-0-1Streak: 0-1-0-0Rank: T-2nd in Central Division, 37 points

TEAM LEADERSGoals: Gauthier, 14Assists: Lowe, 19Points: Lowe, 31+/-: Meland, +9PIM: Milan, Trebish, 70

SIX PACK - Wichita took six of eight points last week and moved into a second-place tie with the Quad City Mallards. The Thunder's four-game win streak was stopped yesterday in a 3-2 loss at Allen. Wichita had collected points in its previous seven games with last night's loss stopping that trend. The Thunder have another four-game week this week starting in Quad City on Wednesday night. CLOSE CALL - All four games last week were decided by one goal, moving the total to eight-straight one-goal contests. Wichita is 6-1-0-1 in that span, and 7-3-1-4 on the season in games decided by a single marker. OH CAPTAIN - Ian Lowe was named team captain before Saturday's game. In his first appearance wearing the C, he scored his 12th goal of the season. The Bradwardine, MB native tallied points in every game last week, and extended his point-streak to eight (5g, 6a). The forward also leads the team in points with 31 (12g, 19a). WORKHORSE - Tim Boron started eighth-straight before getting the night off last night. He claimed his 12th win of the season on Saturday evening, stopping 30 of 32 shots. Over that span, he has gone 7-0-0-1. With the victory, Boron moves into a seventh place-tie in wins amongst goaltenders. He was a runner-up for Goalie of the Month for his efforts, sporting a solid 2.25 GAA and a .918 save percentage in December.

THIRD PERIOD HEROICS - Wichita scored two third-period goals on Saturday and another on Sunday afternoon, pushing the total to 31. Saturday's win was the team's first when trailing entering the third period. Wichita is 10-0-0-1 when leading after two and just 1-8-0-2 when trailing heading into the final frame. STREAKS - Rookie forward Ian Duval extended his streak last night with an assist and now has 15 points (2g, 13a) this season, tied for fourth-most on the team. Duval has points in his last seven games (2g, 6a) and has found the score-sheet in 10 of the last 11. Eric Meland recorded his 10th assist of the year last night and has points in his last four outings (1g, 3a).

ROAD TRIPPIN' - Wichita has played 17 home games to this point of the season and will get to know the road soon enough. Wichita will head to the I-Wireless Center for the first time this year for a pair of games starting Wednesday. The Thunder conclude the three-game road trip on Friday evening against the Mallards before heading back home to face Evansville. After January 10th and 11th, Wichita will not return back to INTRUST Bank Arena until January 30th against the Mallards. The Thunder plays nine games away from home including five-straight on the road from January 16th to Wednesday, January 28th.

WELCOME BACK - Evansville will make its first appearance of the season this weekend to the Air Capital. Wichita hasn't faced the IceMen since March 24th, 2012. The Thunder are 3-3-0 all-time against Evansville, with all three of the team's wins coming at the Ford Center. Wichita is looking for its first win against the IceMen at home. After Sunday, the Thunder will not face another team outside the Central Division.

THUNDERBOLTS… Danick Gauthier is tied for 16th in goals (14), tied for sixth in power play goals (5) and tied for sixth in power play assists (8)…Ian Lowe and Kenton Miller are tied for sixth in power play goals (5)...Tyler Bunz is seventh in the league in goals against average (2.44) while Tim Boron is in 12th place (2.57)…Tyler Bunz and Tim Boron are tied for third in shutouts (2)…Wichita is ninth in shots for per game (31.31) and third in shots against per game (26.78)…Wichita is 5-1-0-1 when leading after one...Wichita is 9-3-0-0 when tied after one…Wichita is 5-3-1-1 when tied after two periods…Wichita is 12-7-0-2 when outshooting the opponent…

UP NEXT - Wichita heads to Quad City for a pair of games this week starting on Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. After a day off, the Thunder play three-in-three starting Friday at Quad City 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-