Rested Thunder wins at home

After a week spent focusing on itself, the Thunder found an opponent often used as an outlet for self-improvement.

Wichita was reeling after consecutive home losses last weekend to Rapid City and Tulsa, and the Thunder was suddenly on the fringe of the ECHL playoff picture. What better time, then, for four days off to recharge and re-evaluate.

The Thunder made the most of its downtime, ending it with a 4-1 win over last-place Brampton on Friday night at Intrust Bank Arena. Brampton’s only chance to remain competitive Friday was to take advantage of Thunder mistakes, and Wichita didn’t make enough to give the Beast an opening.

“We kind of needed a break after that last weekend,” said Thunder forward Ian Duval, who scored Wichita’s first goal on Friday. “It was a tough one for us, especially with how the standings are right now. Tonight was a huge win for us. I didn’t think we played our best, but a win is a win.”

The score was tied 1-1 deep into the second period, an ominous sign for a Thunder team which had lost late leads or been unable to secure go-ahead goals during recent defeat.

On Friday, though, it never appeared as though Brampton was particularly close to breaking through, which put increased pressure on the Thunder to break the tie. Several scoring opportunities went for naught before Danick Gauthier took advantage of over-aggressiveness by Brampton goalie Trevor Cann.

RG Flath found Gauthier quickly after Cann left the goal to play the puck on the opposite side of the net. Gauthier fumbled the puck when he had the most clear look at the net, but he recovered just in time to beat Cann back to the spot.

“The second period, we’ve got to bear down on some of those opportunities,” Thunder coach Kevin McClelland said. “Gauthier, he missed on the first one, but he got it on the second opportunity to score a big goal for our hockey club.”

The Thunder’s offense accelerated after Gauthier’s goal. It didn’t pay immediate dividends, as Gann was game for the barrage he faced in the final minutes of the second period – but unlike previous games, Wichita remained assertive with the lead.

Kirill Tulupov provided the insurance with a power-play goal, and Nikita Kashirsky finished it off with an empty-net score in the final minutes. Wichita, which had a 31-15 shots advantage after two periods, won the final tally 38-27.

“They got one past us, and I thought we collected ourselves pretty good and we got back and got another (goal),” Duval said. “The power-play goal in the third period was huge for us to kind of get it out of reach there.

“It was basically just getting two guys on the forecheck. That’s what we’ve been preaching this week, is that we’ve got to get our forecheck going, that’s when we get most of our chances, most of our opportunities. We’re not a fancy hockey team, so we’ve got to get the work boots on.”

The Thunder’s defense, including goaltender Tim Boron, avoided perilous moments aside from a pair of Brampton breakaways. The Beast is last in the ECHL in goals, and the combination of its ineptitude and Wichita’s steadfastness made for a mostly predictable outcome once the Thunder regained the lead.

“We kept them to around 20 shots, so that’s a bonus for us,” Duval said. “Timmy’s been playing awesome for us, so we can always rely on him. One goal against, we’ll take that any day.”

This story was originally published February 27, 2015 at 10:35 PM with the headline "Rested Thunder wins at home."