Wichita Wins Physical Tilt at Allen, 5-1

ALLEN, TX (Dec. 20) – Wichita closed its five-game road trip on Friday night, skating past Allen in a physical battle, 5-1, at Credit Union of Texas Event Center. 

Similar to what took place on Wednesday night, the Americans got on the board first before the Thunder rattled five in a row to earn a two-game sweep in Texas. 

Nolan Burke, Mitchell Russell and Jay Dickman each had two points to lead the way up front for Wichita. Gabriel Carriere was outstanding, stopping 36 shots.

Mark Duarte opened the scoring 6:28 into the game. He found a rebound near the net during a net-mouth scramble and triggered the teddy bears to the ice.

Russell answered just 29 seconds later to tie the game. He collected a long outlet pass from Dickman, raced around a defender and beat Anson Thornton upstairs with a backhand for his fourth of the year. 

At 15:30, Jake Wahlin gave the Thunder a 2-1 advantage. He intercepted a clearing attempt inside the Allen blueline, came down the slot and fired a shot past Thornton. 

The Thunder took control early in the second period, scoring two goals just 26 apart for a 4-1 lead. Austin Heidemann made it 3-1 at 27 seconds with his fifth of the year. Kobe Walker found him at the right circle and he put a one-timer through Thornton. 

At 53 seconds, Burke recorded his first of two on the night. He found a rebound off a shot from Russell and put it past Thornton to extend the lead to 4-1.

At that point, Thornton was lifted and Luke Richardson came on in relief for the Americans.

With four minutes left, Wichita was whistled for an icing. Allen elected to pull its netminder for the extra attacker. Burke stole a puck at the red line and put it into the empty net for his eighth of the season. 

The two teams combined for 96 penalty minutes. At the start of the third frame, Wichita had five players in the penalty box. 

Burke netted his first two-goal outing of the season. Russell tallied his third two-point game in his last six contests. Heidemann and Wahlin have found the net in back-to-back games. Carriere lowered his goals-against to 2.13 and save percentage o .934 with the win. He also has gone 3-0-1 in his last four starts. 

Wichita went 0-for-4 on the power play. Allen was 1-for-3 on the man advantage.

The two teams close out their three-game series tomorrow night at 6:05 p.m. with the rematch taking place at INTRUST Bank Arena.

Join us for another QuikTrip Buy In on Saturday, December 21. Head over to any Wichita-area QT location to get your complimentary voucher that can be redeemed for an upper-level ticket. Fans can upgrade into the lower level for a small fee. Fans can also get their buy in vouchers online by clicking HERE.

The holidays are approaching and there's no better way than the spend time with family, friends or co-workers then coming to a Thunder game. Learn about our brand-new seating areas that you can rent out for a game. Click HERE to learn more and request information. Also, check out our 12 Days of Christmas sale by clicking HERE.

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