Thunder Loses OT Heartbreaker to Utah in Front of 10,397
March 3, 2023 - ECHL (ECHL)
Wichita Thunder News Release
Wichita Thunder's Justin Kapelmaster, Zack Hoffman and Jay Dickman battle Utah Grizzlies' Cameron Wright and Tyler Penner
(Wichita Thunder)
WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita battled back on two separate occasions to force overtime on Friday night, but fell to Utah on Star Wars Night, 5-4, at INTRUST Bank Arena in front of 10,397.
Jay Dickman finished with a goal and an assist while Justin Kapelmaster made 53 saves in the losing effort.
Wichita got on the board first late in the opening frame. Dickman worked back behind the goal line, fed it to the right circle for Quinn Preston and he slammed it past Trent Miner for his 19th of the year.
In the second, Utah scored three goals in a 2:06 span to take a 3-1 advantage. Dylan Fitze recorded his 14th of the year at 6:20 as he came in off the rush and put home a rebound near the right post.
Keaton Jamison gave the Grizzlies a 2-1 lead at 7:45. Cam Strong fired a shot from the right circle that deflected off his chest and went in the net for his 10th of the season.
Aaron Thow tallied his first of the game at 8:26 to make it 3-1. He fired a shot from just inside the left point through traffic for his third of the year.
At 13:15, Jake Wahlin intercepted a pass at the Thunder line, skated in all alone and beat Miner for a shorthanded marker to cut the lead to 3-2.
Cam Hough tied the game at 1:20 of the third period. He took a pass from Gavin Gould across the top of the circles and beat Miner underneath the right arm for his second of the year.
Thow made it 4-3 at 7:19 when he found a loose puck behind the Thunder net and wrapped it in for his second of the night.
Dickman tied it at 9:47, firing home a one-timer from Connor Walters for his 20th of the season.
The game headed into overtime for the second time in the last three home games.
In the extra session, Utah was awarded a power play when Dickman was called for a high stick. Kapelmaster made several acrobatic saves as he stopped 12 shots in the overtime period.
Zack Tsekos tallied the game-winner at 6:22 of OT as he banged a rebound out of the air past Kapelmaster for his 10th of the season.
Wichita is now 6-5 in overtime contests. Utah improved to 3-3 past regulation with all six games happening on the road.
Wichita snapped a four-game skid on the power play, going 1-for-3 on the man advantage. Utah was 0-for-4 on the power play.
Gould and Walters each had two helpers. Michal Stinil also added an assist.
The Thunder closes the weekend at 4:05 p.m. on Sunday afternoon against Utah.
Images from this story
 Wichita Thunder's Justin Kapelmaster, Zack Hoffman and Jay Dickman battle Utah Grizzlies' Cameron Wright and Tyler Penner |
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