Thunder Rattle Off Five Unanswered On Saturday Night

WICHITA, Kan. (Mar. 9) – Wichita rattled off five-unanswered goals on Saturday night and skated past Iowa, 5-2, at INTRUST Bank Arena. 

Kobe Walker led the way with three points while Brayden Watts and Nick Nardella each had two. Beck Warm was solid in net, stopping 34 shots. 

For the second game in a row, Iowa leaped out to a 2-0 lead. Louis Boudon put the Heartlanders on the board at 5:48, tallying a power play goal from the right circle. 

Dakota Raabe made it 2-0 at 9:55. He stole the puck near the Thunder line, came in all alone and beat Warm with a beautiful stickhandling move. 

In the second, Wichita struck four times and took its first lead. Nardella redirected a shot from Watts near the front of the net past Peyton Jones to make it 2-1. 

In his first game in a Thunder uniform, Brandon Saigeon tied the game at 13:11. Tyler Jette found him off the rush with a terrific feed and he hammered home a one-timer for his third of the year. 

Jay Dickman gave Wichita its first lead of the night at 14:08. Walker beat a Heartlanders defender near the blueline and skated in on a two-on-one. He outwaited the Iowa defender near the crease and Dickman fired home a one-timer on his strong side for his 26th of the year to make it 3-2.

At 17:42, Walker tallied his fifth of the season and increased the lead to 4-2. He got behind the Iowa blueliners and stickhandled around a poke check attempt from Jones. 

Jason Pineo added his 11th of the season late in the contest to make it 5-2. During an odd man rush, Dillon Boucher made an unselfish pass to the slot and Pineo had a wide-open net. 

Wichita went 0-for-2 on the power play. Iowa was 1-for-5 with the man advantage. 

With the win, the Thunder have won three in a row. Walker had a career-high three points with a goal and two assists. Watts extended his point-streak to nine games with two helpers. He has five points in his last two games. Dickman equaled his career-high in goals and needs six more to reach 100 for his ECHL career. Nardella has four points in his last three games. Boucher has assists in five of his last six outings. Warm has won his last three starts. 

Wichita closes a busy week at home tomorrow afternoon at 4:05 p.m. against Kansas City.

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