Thunder Closes Home Schedule With OT Win vs. Tulsa

WICHITA, Kan. (May 30) – Matteo Gennaro scored 2:23 into overtime to help Wichita come back for a 4-3 victory over Tulsa on Sunday afternoon at INTRUST Bank Arena. 

Trailing 2-0 heading into the third, Wichita scored three-unanswered and had a late lead. The Oilers forced the game past 60 minutes with a goal from Vincent Marleau. Gennaro netted his 25th of the season to help the Thunder take their final home game of the regular season.

The goaltenders shined in the first 20 minutes of the contest. Evan Buitenhuis and Hayden Hawkey combined for 27 saves.

Tulsa scored first at 9:18 of the second on a goal from Mike McKee. The Oilers got away with too many men on the ice during a line change. Charlie Sampair found McKee near the Thunder line and fired a shot past Buitenhuis for his third of the year. At 17:45, Robby Jackson made it 2-0 on the power play. His initial shot was blocked at the right circle, but he followed it up and beat Buitenhuis for his fifth of the year. 

The Thunder got on the board early in the third as Ryan White made a great play through the slot and beat Hawkey to cut the lead to 2-1. Peter Crinella recorded his 14th of the year at 6:34 to tie the game at two. Brayden Watts knocked a defenseman off the puck behind the net, fed it to Crinella and he beat Hawkey to the far post. Alex Peters gave Wichita its first lead at 8:51. He made a nice play in the defensive zone, skated down on a two-on-one with Spencer Dorowicz and scored a shorthanded goal to make it 3-2. 

Marleau tied the game with a controversial goal at 15:29 to even it at three. Alex Brooks fired a shot from the right point that he knocked down out of the air past Buitenhuis. The goal was reviewed to see if his stick was above the cross bar. It was determined that the goal was good and the game headed to overtime. 

Wichita outshot the Oilers in the extra period by a 4-1 count. Gennaro scored the game-winner at 2:23 as he caught a pass from Peters in the slot, moved to his left and beat Hawkey for the comeback win. 

The Thunder remains in first place, .14 percentage points ahead of Allen. Wichita has two games remaining while the Americans have three. 

Peters netted his third two-point outing of his career. Gennaro recorded his fourth game-winner of the season. Stephen Johnson potted his first two assist game of his career. 

Wichita heads on the road for the final two games of the regular season starting on Wednesday in Texas against Allen at 7:05 p.m.

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