Wichita Gains Point in OT Loss at Fort Wayne

Fort Wayne, IN (March 24th) - Gabriel Desjardins scored with 22 seconds left in overtime to help Fort Wayne knock off Wichita by the final of 5-4 on Saturday night at War Memorial Coliseum.

The Thunder earns a point in the overtime loss, moving three ahead of Allen and five points clear of Tulsa for third place in the Mountain Division playoff race.

Mark MacMillan led the way with three points while Ralph Cuddemi connected on his team-leading 29th of the season.

Special teams took the headlines in the first period. Garrett Thompson made it 1-0 at 13:51 on the power play. Wichita answered just 19 seconds later when Ralph Cuddemi stripped the puck from Desjardins, went in all alone and buried a wrister over the glove of Garrett Bartus. At 17:54, Stevenson made it 2-1 as he put home a pass from MacMillan during an odd-man rush.

Thompson continued to stay red-hot in the second, scoring back-to-back power play markers to make it 3-2. His first came at 1:13, 13 seconds into the man advantage on a similar play that he scored on in the first. His second came at 4:55 as he fired a one-timer from the right face-off dot past Nick Riopel.

MacMillan tied the game at 19:03 on the power play. He made a great play a few seconds earlier and nearly beat Bartus. Brayden Low found him in the right circle and he fired a wrist shot past his blocker.

In the third, both teams found the back of the net. Daniel Maggio scored at 3:42 with a shot from the right point that gave the Komets a 3-2 lead. Chad Butcher tied the game at 10:56 as he found a loose puck near the crease and recorded his ninth of the year. Riopel was terrific down the stretch, making several tough saves to help force overtime.

The Komets out-chanced the Thunder in the extra session with eight shots on net. Desjardins scored the game-winner with a wrist shot from the blue line to give Fort Wayne a 5-4 win.

Wichita netted two shorthanded goals and a power play marker in the contest. MacMillan had a goal and two assists, giving him six points (2g, 4a) in three games this week.

Wichita went 1-for-4 on the power play. Fort Wayne was 3-for-8 on the man advantage.

The Thunder concludes their eight-game road trip on Wednesday night with a visit to Allen starting at 7:05 p.m.

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