Thunder offense slumps in home loss

The Thunder missed a prime opportunity to gain ground in the ECHL standings Saturday night, losing 4-1 to Tulsa at Intrust Bank Arena.

The Oilers (33-25-1-3) maintained their pursuit of second place with 70 points, one point behind Rapid City – a 3-1 winner over Quad City, which stayed at 69. The Thunder (30-25-2-6) couldn’t gain any ground and remained at 68 points with nine games left in the regular season.

Tulsa kept the Thunder frustrated throughout the game. Wichita did show life early in the third period, when RG Flath scored his 13th goal.

But that was all the Thunder could manage against Oilers goaltender Kevin Carr, who made 24 saves. He had to face only three first-period shots.

Thunder coach Kevin McClelland said the offense arrived too late.

“The game started at 7, so that didn’t do anything for us in the third period,” he said. “I don’t know what it is with our home games, but we’re a team that plays way better on the road. We’ve got to fix that, and we don’t have a lot of time left.”

If the Thunder is to rectify its home woes, it will have ample opportunity, as seven of the final nine games are at home, including the final six.

With Quad City coming to town Wednesday, McClelland said there’s plenty to be fixed in the time off.

“At this point, we’ve got to change some things,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure our work ethic is up, so we’ll start that (Sunday).”

McClelland said the chances were there, but the team couldn’t capitalize.

“We had opportunities, we had power plays at the beginning, and we don’t shoot the puck,” he said.

Fatigue was not a factor, he said.

“I know it was four games in five nights, but that shouldn’t happen,” McClelland said. “We just didn’t have a good game.”

Flath, whose head was shaved after the game after a cancer fund-raising goal was reached, said the effort needs to be there in the first two periods, not just the third.

“We just got a spark a little bit too late,” he said. “It seemed we played better in the third, but it’s a 60-minute game, and we didn’t play 60 minutes.

“We’ve just got to be better; that’s about it.”

Flath said the team realizes the urgency of the upcoming games, all but one against Central Division foes.

“All these games coming up are going to be huge,” he said. “We need these points, and it’s playoff hockey for us right now.”

This story was originally published March 21, 2015 at 10:58 PM with the headline "Thunder offense slumps in home loss."