Second Period Dooms Thunder on Saturday Night

WEST VALLEY CITY, UT (Jan. 25) – Wichita jumped out to a first period lead on Saturday night, but couldn't slow down the Utah offense in a 9-3 loss at the Maverik Center. 

Jay Dickman scored a pair of goals while Tyler Jette added his second of the season. Samuel St-Hilaire suffered the loss in his pro debut, making nine saves. 

Cole Fonstad got the scoring started just 49 seconds into the game. He beat a Thunder defender near the blueline, came down the left wing and beat St-Hilaire low to the far side to make it 1-0. 

Wichita answered six minutes later and tied the contest. Alex Gritz drove to the net near the right circle. His shot ricocheted into the slot. Jette scooped it up, went from his forehand to his backhand and scored.

At 14:22, Dickman potted his first of the frame. Dominic Dockery found him with a long stretch pass near the Utah line. As he was being slashed by Andrew Neilson, he fired a shot past Vinny Duplessis to make it 2-1. 

Dickman increased the lead to 3-1 with a power play marker at 18:59. Peter Bates fired a pass across the slot to Michal Stinil. He found a wide-open Dickman near the blue paint and he tallied his 17th of the season.

Utah exploded for seven goals in the second period and took ahold of the game. 

Derek Daschke tallied a power play goal at 2:38 to get the onslaught going for the home team. He fired a shot from the left faceoff dot to make it 3-2. 

Bryan Yoon added another power play marker at 5:06 as he scored off the rush and popped a shot over St-Hilaire and tied the game at three.

Just 29 seconds later, Craig Armstrong gave Utah the lead for good. He redirected a pass from Cade Neilson with one hand on his stick over St-Hilaire's shoulder for his sixth of the year.

Utah finished off the period with goals from Fonstad, Reed Lebster, Cooper Jones and Andrew Nielsen to take a 8-3 advantage into the third.

Mick Messner tacked on another in the third period to close the scoring. 

Dickman has five points in his last two games. Stinil added an assist in his return to the lineup, giving him points in nine of his last 10 games. Jette registered his third goal of career. Gritz added an assist, giving him points in his first two ECHL contests. Declan Smith recorded his first pro assist. Dockery has three assists in his last two games.

Wichita went 1-for-3 on the power play. Utah was 2-for-3 on the man advantage.

The Thunder closes their three-game series against Utah on Monday night.

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