Wild Third Period Comeback Earns Thunder Playoff Berth
February 29, 2012 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Wichita Thunder News Release
Evansville, IN (February 29th) - Trailing by three goals with 13 minutes to go in the third period, Wichita (37-16-2) blitzed the Evansville IceMen (36-14-4) with six straight and came back to win 8-5 Wednesday night at the Ford Center. Wichita is the first team in the CHL to clinch a berth to the post-season with the win and also earns its second consecutive trip to the playoffs. The Thunder also ended the Evansville winning streak at 10 games and evened the season series to two games a piece.
Evansville struck quickly as Malcolm Gwilliam beat Adam Russo to the blocker side just 24 seconds into the game. Wichita answered four minutes later as Chris Greene (5) put home a Matt Summers centering feed to tie the game at one. The IceMen retook the lead at 8:28 when Josh Beaulieu took his own rebound off his skate and past Russo make it 2-1.
The IceMen added two more in the second period, both from John Ronan. His first came a 3:15 on a break-a-way to make it 3-1 and his second at 11:18 as he followed up a rebound from Brian Bicek and made it 4-1. Wichita scored late in the period to cut the deficit to two as Francis Trudel (1) popped a rebound over Pier-Olivier Pelletier with 0.9 seconds on the clock, making it 4-2 IceMen.
Evansville's Todd Robinson extended the lead to 5-2 after his centering pass hit off a Thunder defender and banked into the net. However, Justin Sawyer (4) scored 29 seconds later and got the rally started to make it 5-3. Aaron Davis (18) intercepted a clearing attempt from Pelletier and put it through his five-hole to cut the lead to one just three minutes later. At 11:06, Wichita clearly had the momentum and tied the game at five when Greene (6) tipped home a Jarred Mohr shot from the point off a face-off and scored his second of the game. Wichita took the lead for good at 13:27 when Colin Hemingway (8) redirected a Sawyer shot into the net to give the Thunder its first lead of the game, 6-5. RG Flath (17) tacked on an insurance goal at 15:32 with a rocket past Pelletier's blocker to make it 7-5. Matt Summers put the icing on the cake with an empty net goal with 40 seconds left and the Thunder claimed a 8-5 win.
Summers extended his point-scoring streak to 8 games while Davis moved his to four. Greene, meanwhile, equaled his total from a year ago with his two-goal performance. Russo earned his 24th win of the year and sits alone in third place in the league. Wichita held the IceMen to just three shots in the final period, a season-low for the second time this season and continue to dominate teams towards the end of the game, now outscoring teams 81-46. With the win, Wichita is now 9 points ahead of the Americans for first place in the Berry Conference and pull even with the IceMen in the race for the Governors Cup for the best record in the league.
Wichita remains in Evansville for a tilt on Friday night with the IceMen and will not return to the Air Capital till March 14th against Rapid City. For tickets, call 755-SEAT, visit the INTRUST Bank Arena box office or online at www.selectaseat.com .
Wichita Thunder playoff packages and season tickets for 2012-13 are now on sale. A $50 dollar non-refundable deposit is required for all season tickets. Contact the Wichita Thunder Monday-Friday, 9am-5:00pm at (316) 264-4625 if you are interested in playoff packages or season tickets, or visit the fan relations table behind section 120 at any Wichita Thunder home game.
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