Thunder Weekly - March 17th

Wichita, KS (March 17th) - Wichita starts a busy week tonight in Allen, TX against the Americans. Get ready for the game with this week's edition of Thunder Weekly and a recap of the week that was:

LAST WEEK'S GAMES -

Monday, March 9thWichita at Brampton, 5-2 W-The Thunder dominated this one from the opening face-off. Wichita took a 3-1 lead into the final frame, leading 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, 4-1 L-Tulsa found the scoreboard first before a second period goal from Danick Gauthier tied the game. Tulsa rattled off three in the final frame, including two in a span of 12 seconds that made it 3-1. Kevin Carr was the difference, making some tough saves down the stretch for the Oilers.

Saturday, March 14thWichita at Quad City, 3-1 L-Wichita trailed 1-0 after the first period before Nikita Kashirsky lit the lamp early in the second. Quad City scored twice in the third to give Wichita their second loss of the week.

THIS WEEK'S GAMES -

Tuesday, March 17thWichita at Allen, 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.

Wednesday, March 18thWichita at Allen, 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.

Friday, March 20thAllen at Wichita, 7:05 p.m., online stream only at ustream.com. Search Wichita Thunder.-Youth Jersey Night, presented by Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, 2nd Wiener Dog Nationals, Scout Night

Saturday, March 21stTulsa at Wichita, 7:05 p.m., online stream only at ustream.com. Search Wichita Thunder.-Fight Cancer Night, presented by RACE Charities

**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: 28-23-2-6Home: 14-10-0-3Road: 14-13-2-3Last 10: 4-5-0-1Streak: 0-2-0-0Rank: 5th in the Central Division, 64 points

TEAM LEADERSGoals: Gauthier, 24Assists: Lowe, 35Points: Gauthier, 54+/-: Meland, +5PIM: Lizon, 155

TIGHT RACE - Wichita moved into fifth place behind the Tulsa Oilers after the weekend. From second to fifth is separated by just five points with less than a month remaining in the regular season. The Thunder have three games in hand on Quad City and Rapid City and one in hand on Tulsa. Wichita plays Allen five times including tonight's meeting in Dallas. The Thunder take on Quad City two more times and play Tulsa four. Wichita does not see Rapid City the rest of the way.

END OF THE ROAD - Wichita has just four road games remaining with 13 games left in the regular season. The Thunder play twice at Allen this week to end a seven-game road swing. After a short three-game homestand, the Thunder head back on the road for their final two games away from INTRUST Bank Arena. Wichita plays at Quad City on March 27th and then will head to Missouri for their regular season finale against the Mavericks on March 28th. The Thunder will play their final six games at home to close out the 2014-15 campaign.

OFFENSE - The Thunder offense was held in check this past weekend. After scoring four or more in three-straight, Wichita was held to just one goal in each of the last two outings. Wichita is 14th in the league in goals for per game (3.05) and 22nd in goals against per game (3.29).

30 - Wichita had a nine-game streak snapped of reaching 30 or more shots at Brampton on March 9th. In fact, the Thunder has reached 30 or more shots in 11 of the last 13 contests. Over the nine-game streak, Wichita averaged 33.9 shots per game, which is above their season average of 31.37 shots for per contest. The Thunder are third in the league in shots given up per game (27.53).

RUSSIAN ROCKET - Nikita Kashirsky recorded his fourth goal of the month on Saturday night and his 16th of the season. He has points in nine of the last 10 games (7g, 6a) and had a nine-game point streak snapped last Friday. He needs three more to equal his career high from 2009-10 when he was in South Carolina, recording 19 goals and 35 points.

POWER AND LIGHT - Wichita went 0-for-2 on Saturday night on the power play and 0-for-5 over the weekend. The Thunder have found the back of the net on the man advantage in six of the last nine games and recorded two or more in four of those meetings. Wichita has gone 11-for-36, operating at 30.6%.

THUNDERBOLTS… Danick Gauthier is tied for 18th in goals (24)...Gauthier and Ian Lowe are tied for second in the league in power play goals (9)...Lowe is tied in 14th place for shots on goal (187) while Gauthier is in 11th (189)...Gauthier is tied for second in power play points (23)…Lowe is tied for 20th place in assists (35)…Tim Boron is fourth in the league in minutes played (2,286)…Wichita is 10-2-0-1 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.

-Thunder-