ECHL Wichita Thunder

Thunder Weekly

Published on October 19, 2015 under ECHL (ECHL)
Wichita Thunder News Release


Wichita, (KS) - Opening Weekend has come and gone. The Thunder head into its second weekend of the season with a 2-0-0-0 record. Read up on the week that was right here:

LAST WEEK'S GAMES -

Friday, October 16th

Wichita at Tulsa, 3-2 W

-Kenton Miller scored two goals, including the game winner with less than two minutes to go in the game to secure a victory for the Thunder. Rookie Anthony Deluca scored his first professional goal in the contest. Goaltender David Shantz stopped 22 of 24 shots he faced.

Saturday, October 17th

Quad City at Wichita, 5-4 W (SO)

-Thunder captain Ian Lowe scored the game winning shootout goal and propelled Wichita to a 5-4 win over the Mallards. The Thunder had four different goal scorers in regulation. Hosmer had a goal and an assist while Lowe and Gauthier finished with two assists a piece. Grant Rollheiser saved 26 out of 30 shots and only allowed one goal in the shootout.

THIS WEEK'S GAMES -

Friday, October 23rd

Missouri at Wichita, 7:05 p.m., online stream only at mixlr.com. Search Wichita Thunder.

Saturday, October 24th

Wichita at Missouri, 7:05 p.m., online stream only at mixlr.com. Search Wichita Thunder. Watch the game at Puck's Sports Bar, located at the Wichita Ice Center.

Sunday, October 25th

Wichita at Quad City, 4:05 p.m., online stream only at mixlr.com. Search Wichita Thunder. Watch the game at Puck's Sports Bar, located at the Wichita Ice Center.

**Pre-game begins 15 minutes prior to start of all games. All games can be heard on www.wichitathunder.com or on your smart phone with the Mixlr App using the keyword Wichita Thunder**

TEAM CAPSULE

Overall: 2-0-0-0

Home: 1-0-0-0

Road: 1-0-0-0

Last 10: 2-0-0-0

Streak: 2-0-0-0

Rank: 1st place Central Division, 4 points

TEAM LEADERS

Goals: Miller, 2

Assists: Gauthier, 3

Points: Gauthier, 3

+/-: Peckham, +3

PIM: Martell, Peckham, 4

WICHITA GREASES THE OILERS - The Thunder opened up their 2015-16 season with a 3-2 win at the BOK Center in Tulsa, OK. Kenton Miller scored the contest's first goal in the second period of the game. Just 31 seconds later, Thunder rookie Anthony Deluca tallied his first professional goal and extend Wichita's lead to 2-0. The Oilers came storming back, scoring two goals in the third period. The first by Ben Walker and the tying goal by Brady Ramsey with under two minutes to go in the game. Miller erased any hopes of overtime, however, when he got to a loose puck behind the Tulsa net and slid it past Tulsa netminder Jussi Olkinuora. David Shantz did the rest and stopped 22 of 24 shots in the game to get his first victory in a Thunder uniform.

HOME COOKING - Wichita began its home side of the schedule with a 5-4 shootout win over the visiting Quad City Mallards. The Thunder scored first, but the Mallards tied the game before the end of the first period. Wichita jumped out to a 3-1 lead early in the second period with a goal from Todd Hosmer. Logan Nelson willed the Mallards, scoring the next two that tied the game. The Thunder re-gained the lead early in the third, but the Mallards evened things with a goal from Matt Neal with two minutes to go. No one would score in overtime and the game was sent to a shootout. Ian Lowe scored in round five of the shootout and gave the Thunder the win. Wichita had four different goal scorers (Martell, Hosmer, Neal, Huff) and goalie Grant Rollheiser stopped 26 out of 30 shots.

HOT START - Anthony Deluca got off to a good start in his first two games as a pro. The Montreal, PQ native scored his first professional goal on Friday night and was all over the ice on Saturday, finishing with an assist. Deluca played his junior hockey for the Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL, racking up a career-high 91 points (44g, 47a) in 68 games. He also helped Rimouski win the QMJHL championship in 2014-15.

NETMINDING - Goaltender David Shantz looked solid in his first game of the year. The Burlington, ON native appeard in his first professional start since the end of the 2010-11 season and won his first ECHL game since March of 2011.

TASTE OF NEW OT - For the first time this season, fans got a small taste of the new overtime rules. Due to a carry-over penalty by Darren McMillan, Wichita started the extra period with a four-on-three power play. Once the whistle blew, each team had three skaters aside until a goalie interference penalty called on Dan Milan that gave the Mallards a power play chance. Both teams were unsuccessful with the man advantage.

THREE BALL - Wichita will have its first three-in-three of the season this coming weekend. After hosting the Mavericks on Friday night, the Thunder travel to Missouri on Saturday and finish up the weekend at Quad City. Wichita will have seven occurrences when they will have to play three games in three nights this season.

THUNDERBOLTS...Danick Gauthier leads the team in assists (3) and is tied for seventh in scoring...The Thunder's penalty kill was 5-for-5 over the weekend...Wichita is tied for a league high, scoring four goals in the second period...Five different players have 2 or more points...Deluca leads the team with six shots on net and is tied for third in rookie scoring...

Friday is Poster schedule night, presented by EMC Insurance, 360Wichita, Kansas One Call, Hanna Heating and Air Co. and Willowbend Golf Club. The first 2,500 through the door will get this great collectors item!

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.

Check out the Wichita Thunder Statistics

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ECHL Stories from October 19, 2015


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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