Thunder Moves Into First Place With Win Over KC

WICHITA, Kan. (May 11) – Wichita raced out to a 4-0 lead and never looked back in a 5-2 win on Tuesday night at INTRUST Bank Arena. 

Evan Buitenhuis was outstanding, stopping 38 shots and earned his 13th win of the season. Five different players found the net and 11 players registered points. 

Dorowicz put the Thunder on the board at 2:23 of the first period. He caught a pass from Brayden Watts through the middle of the Mavericks zone and beat Andrew Shortridge to make it 1-0. At 4:29, Crinella made it 2-0 with his 13th of the season. He fought through a check on the end wall, skated across the blue paint and stuffed it past Shortridge. 

Ryan White returned to the lineup after missing the last few games and made his presence felt in the second. He picked off a pass on the left wall, walked to the middle and rifled a shot past Shortridge. Wichita made it 4-0 at 11:11 when Stephen Johnson raced after a loose puck that came off Shortridge and he tipped it past him. Matt Greenfield entered the game and Shortridge's night was finished. 

Kansas City tried to make things interesting as Lane Scheidl scored a pair of goals in the third. His first came at 5:49 on the power play. He got to a rebound and broke up the shutout bid from Buitenhuis to make it 4-1. Scheidl scored his 18th of the year at 16:44 as he skated through the neutral zone, came down on his off-wing and beat Buitenhuis to make it 4-2. 

The Mavericks pulled Greenfield with 2:40 left in regulation. Jay Dickman stole a loose puck from Matt Petgrave, shot it from the top of his own zone into an empty net and made it 5-2. 

Wichita sweeps the three-game mini-series with Buitenhuis getting all three wins over Kansas City. The Thunder move into first place with a .672 winning percentage. 

Dorowicz finished with a goal and an assist. Brayden Watts had two helpers. Riley McCourt picked up an assist, which is his first point in a Thunder uniform. 

The Thunder continues their four-game homestand on Friday with Rapid City coming to town starting at 7:05 p.m.

Single game tickets are on sale now. Click here to purchase tickets or call the Thunder office at 316-264-4625.

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