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ECHL Wichita Thunder

Game Day Capsule: Wichita at Allen

January 16, 2015 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wichita Thunder News Release


WICHITA

HOME: 11-6-0-2

AWAY: 7-6-2-2 OVERALL: 18-12-2-4

LEADING SCORERS Lowe, 36 pts (14g, 22a)

Gauthier, 33 pts (15g, 18a)

Miller, 28 pts (10g, 18a)

ALLEN

HOME: 15-2-1-0

AWAY: 10-3-0-2 OVERALL: 25-5-1-2

LEADING SCORERS Costello, 54 pts (17g, 37a)

Steffes, 32 pts (21g, 11a)

Schultz, 29 pts (14g, 15a)

HEAD TO HEAD - This is the seventh of 16 meetings this season between the Thunder and the Americans. All-time, Wichita is 13-19-3 against Allen and 5-12-1 on the road.

TODAY - Wichita begins a five-game road swing tonight and will play eight of the next nine games away from home. Allen won the last meeting between the two teams on Sunday, January 4th by the final of 3-2. The Thunder played four games in five days last week and are coming off a 4-3 win against Evansville. Allen has played three-consecutive games against the Missouri Mavericks and are riding a six-game win streak. The Americans last loss was on December 28th at Tulsa. Allen is led by Chad Costello, who has 54 points (17g, 34a) and Gary Steffes, who has 32. Wichita is led by Ian Lowe, who has 36 points (14g, 22a) and Danick Gauthier with 33.

SEASON LONG - Tonight starts a season-long stretch of games for the Thunder away from home. To this point, the longest Wichita has been away from INTRUST Bank Arena is four games. The Thunder will be gone for eight of the next nine contests. Allen is in the middle of a five-game home-stand. The Thunder are 7-6-2-2 on the road while Allen is 15-2-1-0 at home.

162 - Head Coach Kevin McClelland claimed his 162nd win behind the Thunder bench on Sunday and now is the franchise's all-time winningest coach. The former four-time Stanley Cup winner is one shy of 350 victories for his career. In his fifth season in the Air Capital, McClelland is 349-213-54 in 620 games as a professional head coach.

SHORT - Both teams will be missing key components tonight. Kenton Miller was called-up to the Manchester Monarchs on Monday afternoon. Allen lost All-Star forward and their leading scorer Jack Combs to Europe. Combs was at the top of every statistical category including points (56), goals (22) and had six game-winners. Miller is having a career season for Wichita, surpassing last year's numbers with 28 points (10g, 18a).

HOME AWAY FROM HOME - Tonight is the second of four-straight games that will pit the Thunder and the Americans at the Allen Event Center. In fact, four of the next five meetings will be in the Dallas Metroplex with the only trip for Allen to Wichita coming on February 15th in a home-and-home series. The Thunder will host the Americans for the final three games of the season-series.

LOOKING FOR A SPARK - Special teams has not been a huge factor in the season-series to this point. Wichita is 2-for-27 (7.4%) against the Americans and 0-for-8 in two road meetings at the Allen Event Center. The Americans are 5-for-33 (15.2%) against the Thunder and 1-for-10 at home against Wichita. Overall, Wichita is 8-for-75 (10.7%) on the road on the power play and ranked 18th in the league on the man advantage (26-for-161 16.1%). Allen is 17th at home on the power play, operating at 15.2% (12-for-79) and seventh in the league at 19.5% (31-for-159).

MAN DOWN - Wichita and Allen sport two of the best penalty killing units in the league. The Americans are ranked second overall, operating at 88.5% (19 goals against, 165 times shorthanded) while the Thunder are third in the league at 87.4% (20 goals against, 159 times shorthanded). Wichita has given up 13 goals against on the road while the Americans have allowed 12 at home.

CLOSE CALL - Wichita's streak of one-goal games was stopped last Friday night at nine-straight games in a 4-1 win at Quad City. The Thunder are 8-3-2-4 in one-goal contests this season.

THUNDERBOLTS... Danick Gauthier is tied for 16th in goals (14), tied for ninth in power play goals (5) and tied for 12th in power play assists (8)...Tyler Bunz is sixth in the league in goals against average (2.38) while Tim Boron is in 16th place (2.70)...Tyler Bunz and Tim Boron are tied for fourth in shutouts (2)...Wichita is ninth in shots for per game (31.53) and third in shots against per game (27.03)...Wichita is 5-1-0-1 when leading after one...Wichita is 11-4-0-0 when tied after one...Wichita is 6-3-1-1 when tied after two periods...Wichita is 13-8-1-2 when outshooting the opponent...

ALLEN NOTES - Gary Steffes collected his 100th career goal on Tuesday night and is one point away from 200 in his career...Chad Costello picked up his 400th career point on Tuesday...Brett Lyon leads the ECHL in penalty minutes with 192...Steve Martinson coached in his 1,300th game last Sunday...

AROUND THE ECHL - There are 11 other games today in the ECHL tonight. Indy is at Greenville. Reading plays at Elmira. Toledo travels to South Carolina. Tulsa goes to Florida. Cincinnati plays at Kalamazoo. Wheeling heads to Brampton. Evansville visits Fort Wayne. Rapid City goes east to Quad City. Alaska hits the road to Colorado. Ontario plays at Idaho. Utah travels to Bakersfield.

UP NEXT - Wichita finishes out a two-game set tomorrow against Allen at 7:05 p.m.

Individual tickets are on sale now. Don't delay! Tickets can be purchased at the INTRUST Arena Box office, by calling 755-SEAT or go online at www.selectaseat.com. Stay up-to-date on all the news during the season by visiting www.wichitathunder.com.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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