Thunder Weekly - March 11th

Wichita, KS (March 11th) - Wichita played three games this past week including two in Canada and started this week off with a win against Brampton. Read about the week that was in Thunder Weekly:

LAST WEEK'S GAMES - Wednesday, March 4th Rapid City at Wichita, 3-2 W (OT)-Rapid City jumped out to a two-goal lead in the first period, netting both on the man advantage. Wichita stormed back in the third thanks to RG Flath and a late Danick Gauthier goal, sending it into OT. Just 38 seconds into the extra frame, Gauthier snuck it past John Griggs to collect the extra point. Tim Boron snagged 18 of 20, giving him his 20th win of the year. Friday, March 6th Wichita at Brampton, 5-4 W (OT) -Brampton scored in the first before a see-saw second period. Wichita rattled off two in a row in the third to force the overtime period for a second-straight game. Mike Wilson put one home in the third to give Grant Rollheiser a win in his Thunder debut against his former team. Sunday, March 8thWichita at Brampton, 5-4 L (SO) -Trailing 4-1 in the second, Wichita caught the hot hand and scored three in a row to force extra time once again. The game headed into the penalty shot round after five minutes of a scoreless overtime. Brampton potted two to Wichita's one in the shootout to give the Beast the extra point. THIS WEEK'S GAMES - Monday, March 9thWichita at Brampton, 5-2 W -The Thunder dominated this one from the first drop of the puck. Wichita took a 3-1 lead into the final frame, dominating the shot department, 25-8. Wichita and Brampton exchanged goals in the third before an empty-netter from Todd Hosmer sealed the win. Wichita took five of six possible points during the Canadian road trip. Friday, March 13thWichita at Tulsa, 7:35 p.m., online stream only at ustream.com. Search Wichita Thunder. Watch the game at Puck's Sports Bar, located at the Wichita Ice Center. Saturday, March 14thWichita at Quad City, 7:05 p.m., online stream only at ustream.com. Search Wichita Thunder. Watch the game at Puck's Sports Bar, located at the Wichita Ice Center. **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: 28-21-2-6Home: 14-10-0-3Road: 14-11-2-3Last 10: 5-3-0-2Streak: 3-0-0-1Rank: 3rd in the Central division, 64 points TEAM LEADERSGoals: Gauthier, 23Assists: Lowe, 35Points: Gauthier, 53+/-: Tulupov, +5 PIM: Lizon, 153 SEVEN - Wichita is in the middle of a seven-game road trip and got off to a good start last weekend. The Thunder took five out of a possible six points, suffering just a shootout loss on Sunday afternoon. The Thunder improved to 4-1-0-1 against Brampton with just one more meeting between the two teams at the beginning of April. CAREER-HIGH - Six Wichita Thunder players have surpassed career-high milestones so far this year. Dan Milan, Kirill Tulupov, Eric Meland, Jared Walker, Erick Lizon, and Danick Gauthier are all having career-years, while Ian Lowe is just seven points from tying his best season. Lizon has assists in three-straight games and set a new career-high with 17 points. Gauthier has 53 points (23g, 30a) this season, which is 36 points higher than his second-best outing. RACK ‘EM UP - Wichita collected points in each of the four games this week, taking seven of a possible eight. Wichita is currently in third place with 64 points, one point ahead of Rapid City and one point behind the Quad City Mallards. The Thunder have two games in hand on Quad City, three in hand on Rapid City and two on the Tulsa Oilers, who are in fifth place with 60 points. NEW ADDITION - New Thunder netminder Grant Rollheiser has made the most of his playing time so far, going 2-0-0-1 with a 2.18 GAA and a .908 save percentage. He started against his former team on Friday night, was forced into action on Sunday afternoon and won last night against the Beast on Monday evening. 200 - Mike Wilson has had the hot hand lately, scoring in all but two games since the beginning of February, tallying 19 points (5g, 14a) and six multi-point games. Wilson has found the scoresheet in each of the last five, collecting two goals and six assists. He also netted his 200th career point this past Friday night in Brampton. RETURNING TO FORM - Nikita Kashirsky is riding a nine-game point streak, extending it with a goal on Monday night (6g, 6a) and two multi-point games in the three-game series in Brampton. Like Wilson, Kashirsky has scored in all but two contests since the start of February, racking up 15 points (6g, 9a). POWER AND LIGHT - Wichita went 2-for-3 on Monday night on the power play. The Thunder has found the back of the net on the man advantage in six of the last seven games and recorded two or more in four of those meetings. Wichita has gone 11-for-31, operating at 35.5%. THUNDERBOLTS… Danick Gauthier and Ian Lowe are tied for second in the league in power play goals (9)...Lowe is in 10th place for shots on goal (183) while Gauthier is in 16th (175)…Lowe is tied for 13th place in assists (35)…Erick Lizon needs one point to set a new career-high, currently sitting with 16 points…Tim Boron is fourth in the league in minutes played (2,227), ninth in saves (888), tied for sixthin wins (20)…Wichita is fourth in shots against per game (27.67)…Wichita is 9-2-0-1 when leading after one...Wichita is 13-10-0-0 when tied after one…Wichita is 15-5-2-6 in one-goal games… 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.

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