Thunder Close Regular Season with 5-2 Win over Missouri
March 24, 2013 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Wichita Thunder News Release
Wichita, KS (March 24th) - Wichita (39-19-8) closed out the regular season in style, defeating its heated rival Missouri (35-25-6) by the final of 5-2 on Sunday afternoon at INTRUST Bank Arena in front of 10,264 fans in attendance. 11 players recorded points including a two-goal outing from Kevin Young who set a new single-season record for most goals by a Thunder defenseman. Wichita wins the season-series 8-1-1 and claims the inaugural Independence Cup trophy. The Thunder will enter the post-season as the #2 seed and will open the 2012-13 CHL Playoffs next week at home against Arizona.
Wichita got off to a quick start, scoring three goals in less than a three-minute span. Young recorded his first of the night at 5:06 on a beautiful feed from Chad Painchaud in the slot to give the Thunder a 1-0 lead. Erick Lizon scored his second of the season and second in two games as he came down on a two-on-one with Todd Griffith, caught a pass at the right hash mark between the circles and flipped it under the crossbar past Mathieu Corbeil. Wichita was awarded the first power play of the night and Ian Lowe made the Mavericks pay with his 12th power play goal of the season at 7:57 and the Thunder were up 3-0 at that point. John-Scott Dickson got one back for the Mavericks on the power play with a redirection from a shot that came off the stick of Kellan Tochkin, sending the game into the first intermission with the Thunder up 3-1.
Chad Painchaud gave the Thunder a 4-1 lead early into the second period as he ripped a shot from the left circle that got past Corbeil underneath the blocker for his third goal in the last two games. At 9:56, Tochkin scored off a rebound to give Missouri some life and cut the lead back to two.
The Thunder came out hard in the third period and had several chances in the first six minutes. Young was sent off for a high stick, but the Thunder penalty killers didn't let up. Painchaud almost recorded his second of the night as he stole the puck at the red line, came down on a two-on-none, but Corbeil was able to stuff his opportunity. Minutes later, Young stepped out of the penalty box, caught an outlet pass from Jon Madden, skated in on a break-a-way and was able to beat Corbeil going backhand to forehand for his 24th of the season to close out the scoring with Wichita winning 5-2.
Wichita wins its 25th home game of the season and improves to 8-0-0 in three-goal games. The Thunder finish the regular season 9-0-1 when playing on a Sunday. Wichita finishes first in attendance for the first time in team history, averaging 5,599 and saw the largest crowd of the season this afternoon.
Painchaud (1g, 1a) and Young (2g, 0a) finished with two points each. Torrie Jung earned his 24th victory of the year, stopping 20 of 22 shots.
Wichita went 1-for-2 on the power play while the Mavericks were 1-for-4.
Wichita will begin the 2012-13 CHL Playoffs next week at home against Arizona. Game 1 will take place on Thursday, March 28th and Game 2 will be Saturday, March 30th with both games starting at 7:05 p.m . For tickets, call 755-SEAT, visit the INTRUST Bank Arena box office or online at www.selectaseat.com .
Wichita Thunder playoff packages are on sale now. There are many ways to get involved, so be a part of the Blue Revolution and the Thunder's quest for a CHL Title. Contact the Wichita Thunder Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at (316) 264-4625 or visit the fan relations table behind section 120 at any Wichita Thunder home game for more information. Join the Blue Revolution today!
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Central Hockey League Stories from March 24, 2013
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