Thunder Continues Homestand Tonight Vs. Iowa

WICHITA, Kan. (Mar. 8) – The Wichita Thunder, ECHL affiliate of the NHL's San Jose Sharks, AHL's San Jose Barracuda and powered by Toyota, continues its five-game homestand tonight at 7:05 p.m. against the Iowa Heartlanders. 

Tonight is the first of two-straight between the two teams. This is the fourth meeting of the season between the Thunder and the Heartlanders. All-time, Wichita is 7-1-1 against Iowa and 3-0-0 at home against the Heartlanders.

On Wednesday, the Thunder earned a 7-1 win against the Oilers. The Heartlanders lost their last contest against Toledo on Sunday, 3-0. Wichita is sixth in the Mountain Division with 48 points. Iowa is seventh in the Central with 51 points. The Thunder are three points back of Utah for fifth place and five back of Allen for fourth. 

Michal Stinil has been red-hot over the last seven games. He has two or more points in five of his last seven, two goals in three of his last seven and points in each game over that span. Stinil is tied for the team-lead in goals with 25.

Jay Dickman had another breakout performance on Wednesday night. He netted back-to-back power play goals in the third period and also added an assist. Dickman took over the league-lead with 15 power play goals. He needs seven tallies to reach 100 ECHL markers in his career. 

Lleyton Moore extended his assist-streak to seven games last night with three helpers. The rookie defenseman set a new single game career-high in points and assists. Moore has 10 helpers over his last seven games. 

Brayden Watts also extended his point-streak last night, scoring the eventual game-winner in the first period. Watts has points in seven-straight (3g, 6a). He needs seven helpers to equal his career-high from last season when he had 40.

The Thunder power play has been on fire this season and that trend continued on Wednesday. Wichita has scored power play goals in five-straight games and goals in six of their last eight contests. The Thunder have two or more power play goals in four of the last seven outings. The Thunder are third in the league, operating at 26.5% (48-for-181). 

The magic number to predict a Thunder victory this year has been four. When Wichita scores four or more during the course of a game, the team is 18-4-2-1. When the Thunder scores three or less, the team is 2-24-5-0.

THUNDERBOLTS...Trevor Gorsuch has played in 12 of the last 14 games and 15 of the last 18...Dillon Boucher is tied for second among rookies with six major penalties....Wichita is 8-0-2 against the Central Division...Wichita is 10-7-5 when scoring first...Wichita is 11-3-3-1 when leading after one...Wichita is 14-2-3-1 when leading after two...

IOWA NOTES – Louis Boudon has at least one point in 11 of his last 12 road games...Casey Dornbach leads the Heartlanders with 23 assists...Iowa is 14-1-1 when leading after two periods...Iowa is 23rd in the league on the penalty kill (77.2%)...Iowa has won six of its last eight road games...Drew DeRidder and Peyton Jones have allowed three or fewer goals in five-straight appearances...

Friday night is Healthcare Champions Night, presented by the Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine as well as Toyota and QuikTrip Buy In Night. Head over to any local-area QT location to get your complimentary upper-level ticket voucher. These vouchers need to be redeemed for an upper-level ticket and can be upgraded into the lower bowl for a small fee. To redeem online, click HERE.

Single game tickets are on sale now. Buy tickets for any game this season and come watch the 32nd year of Thunder hockey. Click here to purchase today.

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