Wichita, KS (March 21st) - Wichita played four home games this past week. Look back at the week that was in this edition of Thunder Weekly.
LAST WEEK'S GAMES -
Tuesday, March 15th Alaska at Wichita, 4-2 L -Watch highlights HERE
Wednesday, March 16th Alaska at Wichita, 5-1 W-Watch highlights HERE
Saturday, March 19th Missouri at Wichita, 4-2 W -Watch highlights HERE
Sunday, March 20th Missouri at Wichita, 3-2 L-Watch highlights HERE
THIS WEEK'S GAMES - (All times are Central)
Saturday, March 26th Quad City at Wichita, 7:05 p.m., online stream only at mixlr.com.
**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 Mixlr App using the keyword Wichita Thunder**
WICHITAHOME: 9-16-3-4AWAY: 7-21-3-2OVERALL: 16-37-6-6Last 10: 5-4-0-1Streak: 0-1-0-0Rank: 4th place, Central Division, 44 points
TEAM LEADERSGoals: Kale Kerbashian, Kenton Miller 14Assists: Kale Kerbashian, 26Points: Kale Kerbashian, 40+/-: Miles Koules, -2PIM: Dan Milan, 120
WEEK IN REVIEW - Wichita had a busy week, hosting Alaska for a pair of games on Tuesday and Wednesday and then Missouri for the final time this season on Saturday and Sunday. Wichita split both match-ups, losing Tuesday to Alaska 4-2 and taking Wednesday night's meeting by the final of 5-1. The Thunder knocked off Missouri on Friday night by the final of 4-2, but fell yesterday to the Mavericks 3-2 in the regular season finale between the two teams.
ROCK SOLID - David Shantz was terrific in net last week for the Thunder. He stopped 36 of 37 shots on Wednesday night to help the Thunder defeat Alaska and then stopped 40 of 42 shots on Saturday night against Missouri. He went 2-0-0-0 with a goals-against average of 1.51 and a .962 save percentage in his two starts.
KICKING IT - Miles Koules, Christian Isackson and Kale Kerbashian have been a solid line combination for the Thunder. The threesome combined for 14 points (5g, 9a) last week. Koules, who is riding a six-game point streak, had six points (3g, 3a) in the last four games. He tallied two points in four-straight games during his scoring barrage and 10 points overall (3g, 7a). Isackson has points in eight of his last 10 games and had five points this last week (2g, 3a). Kerbashian has assists in three-straight games.
FEELING SPECIAL - Wichita's power play has been a strength over the last seven games. Over that span, the Thunder have gone 6 for 22, good for a clip of 27.3% and goals in five of those outings.
MILESTONE - Head Coach Kevin McClelland coached in his 400th game behind the Thunder bench on Sunday night. He is 192-161-47 in six season with Wichita. He is eight wins shy of 200 as the bench boss of the Thunder.
HOME COOKIN' - Wichita is currently in the middle of a six-game homestand that will end next week against the Quad City Mallards. The Thunder will host Quad City on Saturday night, which is the only game of the week for the Thunder, and then see them at home on Tuesday, March 29th to close out the homestand.
FIRST TIMER - Paxton Leroux was one assist away from a Gordie Howe hat trick on Saturday night. He recorded his first goal of the season to get the Thunder on the board against the Mavericks and followed that up with a fighting major.
QUICK STRIKE - Wichita got off to quick start in both of its wins this past week. On Wednesday night, the Thunder scored three unanswered against Alaska in a seven-minute span in the first period. On Saturday night, Wichita got goals 29 seconds apart from Paxton Leroux and Ian Lowe.
THUNDERBOLTS...Ian Lowe leads the team in shots (174)...Lowe and Andy Huff are tied for 10th in the ECHL in shorthanded goals (2)...Landon Oslanski continues to lead defensemen with nine power play goals and is tied for second in power play points (18)...Dan Milan leads the team with 120 penalty minutes...Wichita is tied for second in the league in minor penalties (365)...Wichita is 10-1-1-1 when leading after two...
Individual tickets for all games are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased at the INTRUST Arena Box office, by calling 855-755-SEAT or go online at www.selectaseat.com.
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About the ECHLThe 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 over 500 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-