Thunder Weekly, March 12th

Wichita, KS (March 12th) - Wichita played three times this past week. Take a look back at how the team fared in this edition of Thunder Weekly.

LAST WEEK'S GAMES -

Wednesday, March 7thQuad City at Wichita, 4-1 W recap Watch highlights HERE

Saturday, March 10th Wichita at Tulsa, 3-0 L recap Watch highlights HERE

Sunday, March 11thWichita at Tulsa, 4-1 W recapWatch highlights HERE

THIS WEEK'S GAMES - (All times are Central)

Friday, March 16thWichita at Rapid City, 8:05 p.m., online stream at wichitathunder.com, The Sin Bin app on your smartphone.

Saturday, March 17th Wichita at Rapid City, 8:05 p.m., online stream at wichitathunder.com, The Sin Bin app on your smartphone.

**All games can be heard on www.wichitathunder.com or on your smart phone with The Sin Bin App using the keyword Wichita Thunder**

**Join Matthew Harding and Zach Courter before every home game for the Sin Bin Wichita Thunder Pregame Show. The show starts at 6:20 p.m. for every game except Sunday home games, which starts at 3:20 p.m. You can listen on the Sin Bin app.**

WICHITAHOME: 20-11-2-1AWAY: 12-13-2-1OVERALL: 32-24-4-2Last 10: 3-5-0-2Streak: 1-0-0-0Rank: 3rd, Mountain Division, 70 points

TEAM LEADERSGoals: Ralph Cuddemi, 26Assists: Ralph Cuddemi, 29Points: Ralph Cuddemi, 55+/-: Samuel Thibault, +12PIM: Dyson Stevenson, 147

LAST WEEK - Wichita closed a four-game homestand on Wednesday night and then began an eight-game road trip in Tulsa. Ryan Van Stralen led the way on Wednesday night, scoring twice against Quad City and dropping the gloves as the Thunder won, 4-1. Wichita hit the road starting on Saturday night, falling by the final of 3-0 to the Oilers in the StoneWolf Casino Cup Series. The Thunder rebounded on Sunday with a dominant effort, claiming a 4-1 win at the BOK Center.

HEY ROOK - Ryan Van Stralen continued to stay hot this past week. He scored two goals on Wednesday night and followed that up with three points (1g, 2a) on Sunday. He nearly had his second goal of the contest late in the game, but his shot rang off the crossbar. Van Stralen has eight points (4g, 4a) in six games since turning pro.

TWO BY TWO - Ralph Cuddemi is inching closer to his career-high that he set last year in Utah. He needs three points to equal that total as he had four points (2g, 2a) this past week. Cuddemi has a goal and an assist in three of his last four contests.

EASY MAC - Mark MacMillan snapped a 17-game goal scoring slump on Sunday. He has two points in two of his last three games. MacMillan has 42 points (17g, 25a), which is good for second on the team in scoring.

RIO - Nick Riopel improved to 5-2-1-2 in a Thunder uniform with a pair of wins this week. He stopped 84 of 89 shots (.943 SV%) and gave up just five goals in his three starts (1.66 GAA). The veteran netminder has a 2.66 goals-against average and .913 save percentage since coming to Wichita.

CAR JACKED - Jon Puskar has added an element of physicality to the Thunder line-up since coming over from Utah. He notched his 15th goal of the season on Sunday, scoring on a breakaway in the third period. Puskar has six points (3g, 3a) in 16 games with the Thunder.

PLAYOFF PICTURE - The Mountain Division got a little tighter this past week. Wichita leads the Allen Americans by four points and Tulsa by five. The Americans are riding a five-game winning streak and will face Wichita two more times down the stretch. The Thunder plays Tulsa one more time at home on March 30th. Allen has two games in hand on both Wichita and Tulsa and will play one of those on Wednesday night in Rapid City.

THUNDERBOLTS... Jeremy Beaudry is tied for third for power play goals by a defenseman (6) and tied for 19th with 32 points (12g, 20a)...Travis Brown is second in the league in shorthanded goals by a defenseman (2)...Wichita is 20-8-1-1 when scoring first...Wichita is 18-3-1-0 when leading after one...Wichita is 22-3-0-1 when leading after two...Wichita is 17-14-1-1 when outshot by its opponent...

The Thunder will make their first trip of the season to the Black Hills next weekend against Rapid City starting Friday at 8:05 p.m. CST.

Individual tickets for all games are on sale now. Season tickets are still available for purchase. Get your seats for just $15 per month. All it takes is a $50 deposit per seat to reserve yours today. To learn more, click here or contact a Thunder representative at the office today!

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-Thunder-