Thunder Wins In OT Over Allen

WICHITA, Kan. (Jan. 7) - Beau Starrett scored 1:44 into overtime on Tuesday night to push Wichita past Allen, 4-3, at INTRUST Bank Arena.

Four different players found the net, including Fabrizio Ricci, Jason Salvaggio and Lane Bauer. Mitch Gillam grabbed his 10th win of the season, stopping 24 shots.

The Thunder scored twice in the opening frame to jump out to an early lead. Ricci completed a give-and-go with Chris Crane and he beat Andrew Shortridge with a wrist shot to make it 1-0. Bauer netted his first of the year at 16:54. Billy Exell chased down a pass from Riley Weselowski, fed it over to Bauer who buried a snap shot over the blocker of Shortridge.

Allen cut the Thunder lead to 2-1 at 15:32 in the second period. Olivier Archambault exited the penalty box, found a loose puck near the blueline and went down on a breakaway. He beat Gillam with a backhand that snuck inside the left post. The Thunder answered 42 seconds later when Salvaggio pushed a rebound past a diving Shortridge to take a 3-1 advantage into the third period.

The Americans stormed back in the final frame, scoring twice in the final eight minutes. Jordan Topping made it a one-goal contest when he fired a wrist shot past Gillam at 11:48. With 50 seconds remaining, Gillam stopped an Archambault wrist shot, but was unable to locate the puck. Les Lancaster was Johnny on the spot to send the game into overtime.

Wichita benefited from a tripping penalty from Corey Durocher 42 seconds into the extra session. Starrett tallied the game-winner as he redirected a shot from Vincent Desharnais past the glove of Shortridge.

The Thunder have scored a power play goal in four-straight. Starrett scored his first career game-winning goal and first overtime game-winning marker. Ricci and Salvaggio have goals in back-to-back games. Crane had a pair of assists.

Wichita begins a three-in-three against three different opponents on Friday night as Utah comes to town starting at 7:05 p.m.

The Thunder are excited to be the host of the 2020 Warrior Hockey/ECHL All-Star Classic, presented by Toyota, on Wednesday January 22, 2020. Get your tickets now for the league's annual showcase that features some of the best young talent across the ECHL by clicking here.

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