CHL Wichita Thunder

Thunder Can't Hold Early Lead in 4-3 Loss to Mavs

March 1, 2014 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Wichita Thunder News Release


Independence, MO - Wichita (23-26-4) jumped out to an early lead, but it wasn't enough as Missouri (35-16-2) scored four unanswered to take home a 4-3 win on Saturday night at the Independence Events Center. Tomas Klempa recorded a penalty shot goal while RG Flath and Andrew Martens also found the back of the net for the Thunder. Wichita finishes the regular-season series 6-4-0 against the Mavericks and 3-2-0 at the IEC. The Thunder remains four points out of the final playoff spot with Arizona losing in Allen and will face the Sundogs tomorrow afternoon.

Wichita got off to a good start as the offense pushed forward and had the Mavericks on their heels in the early going. In the first three minutes, Tomas Klempa got away from the defense in the neutral zone and got slashed while he was letting a shot go from the left hash mark. The official deemed it worthy of a penalty shot and Klempa made the most of it. He came up the right side and beat Shane Owen over the glove to make it 1-0. Two minutes later, Matt Summers found Flath cutting down the left seam and beat Owen for his 20th of the season to increase the Thunder lead to 2-0. Over the next 10 minutes, both teams had chances with the power play. Wichita couldn't get one past Owen on its only chance of the period. Missouri had opportunities, but were unsuccessful. The Mavericks cut the lead to one when Tyler Currier scored his first of the season with a wrist shot from the right circle at 17:21.

In the second, both goalies put on a show. Wichita had several odd-man chances that Owen was able to stop including a break-a-way from Nick McParland. David Brown made two spectacular saves on Colt King from point-blank range that kept the game tied. The Mavericks would eventually tie the game at 18:45 when Andrew Courtney found Sebastien Thinel in front of the net for his first of two on the night. The game headed into the third tied at two.

Early in the third, Wichita had several odd-man chances that they were not able to capitalize on. The Mavericks kept pinching their defensemen at the Thunder line, one of which sprung a three-on-one. Jon Madden fed a pass over to McParland at the right face-off dot, but his one-timer was stopped by Owen. At 9:52, Thinel gave the Mavericks the lead with a shorthanded goal that made it 3-2. Missouri increased the lead to 4-2 when Colten Hayes put a one-timer from the top of the right circle past the glove of Brown at 14:09. Martens got one back with less than a minute remaining in regulation as he knocked the puck out of the air past Owen for his ninth of the season and cut the lead to one while Brown was pulled for the extra attacker. Wichita was unable to get possession of the puck in the Mavericks zone in the waning seconds and the final horn rang with Missouri holding on for the 4-3 victory.

Despite the loss, Wichita claims the Independence Cup Series for the second-straight year. Klempa recorded Wichita's second successful penalty shot of the season. It was also the second night in a row that Wichita had a penalty shot called in a game for or against. The Thunder has allowed a shorthanded goal in three of the last four games. Martens notched his 40th all-time goal of his Thunder career. Flath reaches 20 goals in a Thunder uniform for the third straight season. Brown took the loss, stopping 32 of 36 shots. Owen earned the victory, stopping 31 of 34 shots he faced.

Wichita went 0-for-1 on the power play. Missouri was 0-for-3.

Wichita returns home tomorrow afternoon to host the Arizona Sundogs at 5:05 p.m. The Thunder finish a busy stretch of four games in five nights on Tuesday evening in Rapid City against the Rush.

2014-15 season tickets are on sale now! Don't delay, contact the Wichita Thunder Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at (316) 264-4625. Stay up-to-date on all the news this off-season by visiting www.wichitathunder.com.

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Central Hockey League Stories from March 1, 2014


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