Wichita Finishes Weekend With Win Over Utah

WICHITA, Kan. (Jan. 14) – Wichita closed a three-in-three on Sunday afternoon, knocking off Utah, 6-3, at INTRUST Bank Arena. 

Michal Stinil led the way, tallying his second-career hat trick and also added an assist. Jay Dickman, Quinn Preston, Ryan Finnegan and Shane Kuzmeski each had two points. Beck Warm earned the win, stopping 42 shots. 

Stinil got things started just three minutes into the game. Finnegan made a beautiful pass near the top of the crease and he made it 1-0. 

Nick Nardella recorded his first of the season at 10:41. Finnegan made another outstanding play near the crease and Nardella beat Dante Giannuzii to make it 2-0. 

Early in the second, Jay Dickman increased the lead to 3-0. Kuzmeski created a turnover at the left circle, fed it across to Dickman in the slot and he fired it home for his 16th of the year. 

Utah recorded back-to-back goals in the frame and cut the lead to one. Brandon Cutler made it 3-1 at 5:15 when he came down the left wing and fired a wrist shot past Warm. 

At 14:15, Quinn Wichers went coast-to-coast and beat Warm with a knuckler to make it 3-2. 

Stinil re-gained a two-goal advantage at 16:24. Preston won a face-off to the left of Giannuzzi and Stinil hammered a one timer past him for his second of the game. 

Preston made it 5-2 at 8:49 of the third. He entered down the left wing and lifted a shot past Giannuzzi from in-close for his first of the season. 

Just over a minute later, Utah made it 5-3 as Brett Stapley cut past two defenders and made a terrific move to beat Warm for his ninth of the year. 

Giannuzzi was lifted for the extra attacker with just under two minutes left. Stinil recorded his third of the night at 18:52 to end the scoring. 

Wichita didn't have a power play chance in the game. Utah was 0-for-1 on the man advantage. 

The Thunder have won back-to-back games and took five out of a possible six points over the weekend. With the victory, Wichita moves ahead of Utah for sixth place in the standings.

Stinil has five goals over his last two games and seven points over that stretch. Dickman has goals in back-to-back contests and three points over his last two. Preston recorded a goal and an assist in his first game back in a Thunder uniform. Finnegan netted his first multi-assist outing of his career. Kuzmeski tallied his second multi-assist game of the season. Roman Kinal collected an assist, giving him points in four of his last five. Jake Wahlin added an assist, giving him three helpers over his last two.  

Wichita will close its homestand on Friday, January 19 against longtime rival, Tulsa.

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