Thunder Weekly
March 10, 2014 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Wichita Thunder News Release
LAST WEEK'S GAMES -
Tuesday, March 4th
Wichita at Rapid City, 3-2 L (SO)
-Tomas Klempa gave the Thunder a 1-0 advantage after one period, but Rapid City would outscore Wichita in the second and tie the game heading into the final frame. Neither team could find the back of the net and the game headed into OT for the first time in the season-series. After a scoreless five minutes, Anthony Perdicaro recorded the shootout winner for the Rush in the bottom of round four.
Sunday, March 9th
Rapid City at Wichita, 4-3 L (SO)
-Rapid City got on the board first as Jesse Schultz put home a backhand at 3:24 of the second period. Jarrko Leppanen tied the contest with nine minutes remaining. The Rush re-gained the lead with one second on the clock as Winston Day Chief tucked home a loose puck in the crease. The Thunder got two in the third from Mike Wilson and Andrew Martens to go up 3-2 at 8:28 of the third. Riley Weselowski tied it and forced overtime shortly after. The shootout was needed for the second game in a row between the two teams and the visitors took home the win, outscoring the Thunder 3-2 in the penalty shot round. Eric Giosa was credited with the game-winner at the top of round six while Jesse Dudas was stopped in the first set of sudden death shooters.
THIS WEEK'S GAMES -
Friday, March 14th
Tulsa at Wichita, 7:05 p.m., 1550 KKLE
Saturday, March 15th
Tulsa at Wichita, 7:05 p.m., 1550 KKLE
Sunday, March 16th
Wichita at Tulsa, 4:05 p.m., 92.7 KWME, 1550 KKLE
(All times are central time zone)
**Pre-game begins 20 minutes prior to start of all games. All games can be heard on www.wichitathunder.com or on your smart phone with the Tune-In Radio App using the keyword, Wichita Thunder**
SIX BACK - With Arizona and Tulsa idle last night, Wichita made up some ground with its shootout loss. The Thunder are six points back of the Sundogs and nine points behind longtime rival, Tulsa. The Thunder have a game in hand on the Oilers, two on the Sundogs and will face each team head-to-head down the stretch. Wichita has five out of the next six games against the Oilers with a weekday contest in Allen. The Thunder close out the season with three-straight games in Arizona during the final week of the 2013-14 campaign.
RED LIGHT DISTRICT - Andrew Martens recorded his 10th goal of the season and 41st in a Thunder uniform last night. He is seven shy of moving into second place past Daniel Tetrault for goals scored by a Thunder blue liner. With five more, he will equal his total from 2010-11 when he tallied a career-high 15 markers. That same year, he was selected as the CHL's Most Outstanding Defenseman after racking up 54 points. He is also four points shy of tying Sean O'Reilly in second place all-time with 169 points for a Thunder defenseman. Martens is in a first-place tie atop the defensemen scoring race with Allen's Tyler Ludwig with 43 points (10g, 33a).
CAREER BEST - Mike Wilson is having his best statistical season of his pro career. He tallied is 11th of the year last night off a face-off, which is a career-high. The North Vancouver, BC native has recorded back-to-back 30-point seasons after notching 35 last year between the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL and the Worcester Sharks of the AHL. He is currently alone in sixth place in the defensive scoring race with 36 points (11g, 25a).
OFFENSE FROM DEFENSE - All three goals last night were scored from the Thunder defensive core. Jarkko Leppanen tallied his first in a Thunder uniform in the second period. Mike Wilson and Andrew Martens went back-to-back in the third period. Wichita has three of the top six scoring defenseman in the league with Andrew Martens tied at the top with 43 points (10g, 33a), Jesse Dudas in fourth place with 37 points (14g, 23a) and Mike Wilson in sixth place (11g, 25a).
JUMP SHOT - Jon Booras returned to the Thunder line-up after missing Tuesday's game at Rapid City. He won two key face-offs that turned into goals from the blue line. He collected a pair of assists, which was his 12th multi-point and third multi-assist game of the season. It was his first two assist night since February 17th in Brampton. Booras leads the Thunder with 57 points.
SHOOTOUT LOSS - Wichita lost back-to-back shootouts to the Rush this week and are now 6-3 in shootout situations. It was just the second time this season that Wichita went back-to-back with games that needed to be decided by penalty shots. Wichita previously won six-straight shootouts, which set a new franchise record for most consecutive shootout wins in a season.
THUNDERBOLTS... Dustin Donaghy has played in all 56 games this season...Booras is 10th in the league with 57 points, eighth in assists (41) and tied for 10th in power play goals (7)...Nick McParland is 12th in rookie scoring with 21 points (7g, 14a)...Dudas is seventh in power play goals (9)...Martens is fifth in power play assists (19) while Jon Booras and Mike Wilson are tied for 10th (14)...Wichita is second in shots allowed per game (29.54)...Wichita is averaging 14.39 PIM per game, which is the lowest in the league...Wichita is 9-13-2 when tied after one...Wichita is 5-8-3 when trailing after one...
Wichita remains home next weekend with a pair of games against the Tulsa Oilers on Friday and Saturday night. Both contests begin at 7:05 p.m. The Thunder finish the weekend on Sunday afternoon in Tulsa at 4:05 p.m.
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 season by visiting www.wichitathunder.com .
Central Hockey League Stories from March 10, 2014
- Cutthroats Sweep Beast to Clinch Spot in Playoffs - Denver Cutthroats
- Shots from the Point for March 10, 2014 - CHL
- Mallards Weekly Update - Quad City Mallards
- Rapid City Rush Sweep Oakley Weekly Awards - CHL
- Tulsa Oilers Weekly News and Notes - Tulsa Oilers
- Thunder Weekly - Wichita Thunder
- Rush Sweep Thunder in Regular Season - Rapid City Rush
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