Thunder Suffer 5-3 Setback to Quad City
Published on March 26, 2015 under ECHL (ECHL)
Wichita Thunder News Release
Wichita, KS (March 25th) - In their final regular season meeting at INTRUST Bank Arena, Wichita (30-26-2-6) gave up a pair in the first and third periods en route to a 5-3 loss to Quad City (32-27-4-3) on Wednesday night. The Mallards scored two goals in 57 seconds in the first and scored three of the next four to move three points ahead of the Thunder in the standings. With the loss, Wichita has dropped three in a row and is 5-5-1-0 against Quad City in the season-series.
Wichita wanted to get off to quick start and they were able to do so, scoring 1:26 into the contest. RG Flath buried a one-timer off a deflected pass from Justin Bernhardt for his 14th of the season. The Mallards answered with two goals in less than a minute late in the opening frame. At 16:47, Joe Perry got to a loose puck after a pass deflected off a shin pad behind the net and he scored to tie the game at one. Justin Fox gave the Mallards their first lead of the game at 17:44, catching a head-man pass up the left wing and firing a wrist shot under Grant Rollheiser's blocker to make it 2-1.
In the second, Bernhardt tied the game at 15:39 pouncing on a rebound at the blocker post of Parker Milner for his 12th of the season. Kevin Baker, the Mallards hottest player, would re-gain the lead at 18:35 with a one-timer at the bottom of the right wing circle from a sharp angle to make it 3-2.
Jannik Christensen gave the Mallards a two-goal advantage at 8:13 of the third after winning a race to a loose puck off a dump in and fired a slapper to the short side for his first goal of the season. Wichita pressed down the stretch, pulling Rollheiser with less than three minutes in the contest. Kenton Miller cut the lead to one with his 16th of the season at 19:33. Fox quickly put an end to the comeback bid with an empty-netter 11 seconds later to make it 5-3.
Flath pulls into a seventh place tie with Brent Sapergia all-time in goals (87) in a Thunder uniform and has found the net in back-to-back games. Wilson had two helpers, putting him one point shy of his career-high in points with 45 (12g, 33a) on the season. Rollheiser took the loss, stopping 20 of 24 shots he faced. Milner improves to 6-0-0-0 against the Thunder, stopping 22 of 25 shots on net.
Wichita was 0-for-1 on the man advantage. Quad City went 1-for-2 on the power play.
Wichita heads out of town for the final two road games of the regular season starting on Friday night against Quad City 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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