Wild Third Period Goes to Allen, 5-4

Allen, TX (Jan. 24th) - Gary Steffes scored with four minutes left and Allen (24-14-2-1) held on, claiming a 5-4 victory over Wichita (9-25-4-4) on Sunday afternoon at the Allen Event Center. The two teams combined for seven goals during a wild third period. Wichita drops to 0-5-2-0 against the Americans this season with the loss.

Logan Nelson had a pair of goals while Erick Lizon and Landon Oslanski also found the net.

Nelson got the Thunder on the board at the four-minute mark of the first period with a wrist shot over the glove of Joel Rumpel from the right circle. Wichita had two power play opportunities in the first and led 9-2 in the shot department after 20 minutes.

The Americans tied the game in the second with a power play goal from Chad Costello at 6:45. Things got testy at the 13 minute mark when David Makowski slashed Paxton Leroux and then immediately dropped the gloves with Michael Neal. Makowski was sent to the showers, earning 20 minutes in penalties for his actions.

In the third, Nelson recorded his second of the game at 1:25 that gave the Thunder a 2-1 advantage. The Americans stormed back and found the net three times to take a 4-2 lead. Chris Crane recorded his 11th of the year at 3:49 tying game at two. During a net-front scramble, Justin Courtnall potted his third of the year and gave the Americans their first lead, 3-2. Five minutes later, Dyson Stevenson beat Rollheiser from the right circle that increased the lead to 4-2.

Wichita mounted a rally two minutes later when Lizon blasted home his first of the season at 12:20. After several penalties were called on the Americans, Oslanski tied the game with his ninth of the season during a five-on-three. Immediately after, Steffes capitalized on a broken play and scored a shorthanded goal at 16:44 to make it 5-4 in favor of Allen.

Nelson recorded his first two-goal outing since coming to Wichita. Oslanski tallied his eighth power play goal of the season, pulling him into a fifth-place tie for power play goals. Rollheiser suffered the loss, stopping 20 of 25 shots. Rumpel takes his fourth- straight win against the Thunder, stopping 22 of 26 shots he faced.

Wichita went 1-for-5 on the power play. Allen was 1-for-1 on the man advantage.

The Thunder returns home on Wednesday night to host the Evansville IceMen at 7:05 p.m. Take advantage of the Papa Murphy's Family Four Pack. Get four goal zone tickets, two pizzas for just just $49!

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 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-