Thunder rallies for win in overtime

Wichita has three games in hand over Rapid City as the teams battle for ECHL postseason positioning. On Wednesday, the Thunder took another one.

Rapid City led by two goals with less than eight minutes to go, but Wichita tied it in regulation before Danick Gauthier’s overtime goal gave the Thunder an improbable 3-2 win at Intrust Bank Arena.

Wichita was in danger of losing for the first time this season when allowing two goals or fewer, but was saved by Gauthier and a defense that surrendered five shots over the final 40-plus minutes.

The Thunder (26-21-2-5) and Rapid City are tied for fourth place with 59 points apiece, though the Thunder has played three fewer games.

They each trail third-place Tulsa by one point and second-place Quad City by four in the Central Division. Four teams from the division advance to the playoffs.

“We need every point right now,” Gauthier said.

Rapid City scored a pair of power-play goals in the first period before both offenses became stagnant, as the teams combined for six shots in the second period. Thunder players couldn’t make much of individual playmaking and didn’t often appear interested in involving teammates.

That changed in the third period, when Wichita took 12 shots and made more crisp, purposeful passes. One of those came from Mike Wilson behind Rapid City’s net, as he found RG Flath outside the crease for a well-executed goal that made it 2-1.

The goal seemed to elevate the Thunder’s confidence, perhaps foreshadowing more to come.

“I think it was going before then,” Thunder coach Kevin McClelland said. “We started skating and moving and creating some opportunities.”

Wichita pulled goaltender Tim Boron with just under two minutes to go, creating a 6-on-5 advantage. Shortly thereafter, Gauthier found himself with a clear path toward the net from the left faceoff circle, even if he couldn’t see it completely.

With his back toward the goal, Gauthier turned and fired a backhanded shot that found the bottom right corner of the net.

The Thunder, which scored twice in the third period in Sunday’s loss to Allen, this time had completed the comeback, assuring itself of one point in the standings with overtime to come.

“I was just playing the puck to the net, just for a rebound and it went five-hole,” Gauthier said. “I got really lucky, but I’ll take it every time.”

Gauthier’s second goal came 38 seconds into overtime on a 4-on-3 power play, just after Flath mishandled a rebound that could have led to the game-winner.

Gauthier has scored six goals in Wichita’s last eight games, often carrying an offense that is now without third leading scorer Kenton Miller, who was injured Sunday during a multi-player fight with Allen after the game.

Wednesday was Gauthier’s third multi-goal game this season and first since a hat trick on Dec. 6.

“I don’t think we started off that bad tonight,” McClelland said. “… You could tell it affected our guys, they don’t want to start off a game like that. We didn’t do a lot in the second period to get back at it. Then all of a sudden, we’ve got a nice goal to get us going, a great play by Mike Wilson. Then all of a sudden we put one to the net, and a good thing happens, it goes in.

“Then we get a power-play, (assistant coach Jason Duda) draws up a play and boom, it’s in the net, 3-2.”

This story was originally published March 4, 2015 at 11:29 PM with the headline "Thunder rallies for win in overtime."