WICHITA, Kan. (Nov. 28) - Wichita battled back from a two-goal deficit and pulled out a 3-2 shootout win over Rapid City on Sunday afternoon at INTRUST Bank Arena.
Tim Soderlund and Peter Crinella scored goals in regulation and in the shootout while Jake Theut (TOIT) made 41 saves to earn his first victory in a Thunder uniform.
Rapid City scored first at 8:05 of the first period. Brett Gravelle made a nice move in the right corner and beat Theut to make it 1-0.
Logan Nelson made it 2-0 at 13:34 of the second. He fired a shot from the slot as he was cutting across the grain on the power play. The Rush outshot the Thunder 20-6 in the frame.
Early in the third, Soderlund cut the lead to one when he put home a pass from Matteo Gennaro off the rush for his third of the year. Crinella tied the game at 8:16 after taking a beautiful feed from Jay Dickman at the left circle. For the second time this week, Wichita and Rapid City would head past regulation.
The Rush outshot the Thunder 7-3 in the extra session. Theut was outstanding, making several key saves to help the Thunder stay tied.
Crinella scored at the top of the first round while Theut stopped Stephen Baylis to give Wichita a 1-0 lead. Soderlund made it 2-0 at the top of the second round, scoring a la Patrick Kane as he slowed down in the slot and buried a wrist shot. Theut stopped Max Coatta at the bottom of round two and Wichita claimed the shootout win.
Wichita takes seven out of a possible eight points over the week. Soderlund has points in three-straight (2g, 2a) and is 2-for-2 in shootout situations. Crinella has goals in back-to-back games. Dickman notched an assist, giving him points in eight-straight games. Watts has points in three-straight (1g, 4a). Gennaro also has points in three-straight (2g, 2a). Buitenhuis started the game in net, helping him tie the franchise record for consecutive starts in net with 15.
The Thunder heads on the road for the next two starting on Wednesday night in Coralville against Iowa.
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