‘We’ll regroup’: Wichita Thunder stunned late by Komets in Game 1 of ECHL playoffs
Wichita’s return to playoff hockey for the first time since 2018 ended in bitter disappointment for the Thunder on Tuesday in front of a raucous crowd at the Wichita Ice Center.
Anthony Nellis scored with 25 seconds remaining in the third period to lift the Fort Wayne Komets to a Game 1 win, 3-2, over the Wichita Thunder in the ECHL Western Conference semifinals.
With Wichita’s last home game in the best-of-5 series scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, dropping a series opener where it outshot Fort Wayne 38-32 and led 2-1 halfway through the third period hurts even more.
“We played good enough to win, so obviously it’s very disappointing when you give up a goal with 25 seconds left to lose,” said Thunder coach Bruce Ramsay, who was named the ECHL Coach of the Year earlier Tuesday. “We’ve got to stay focused. It’s still a best-of-5. It’s just one win for them. So we’ll regroup (Wednesday) and get ready to battle again.”
Gordie Green put Wichita up 1-0 halfway through the second period when he finished a one-timer from Alex Peters for his first playoff goal of his career, only for Nellis to score the equalizer just before the break.
The Thunder took a 2-1 lead seven minutes into the third period when Beau Starrett threaded a pass to Ryan White, who hammered it home.
“I thought we had a lot of good energy and spent a lot of time in the offensive zone and created some really good scoring chances using our speed,” Ramsay said. “We just didn’t capitalize on them enough. But overall, I liked the effort of our team. But it’s playoff hockey and we’ve got to step it up a notch. In order to be successful, you’ve got to bring 120% every shift.”
The third-period lead would be short-lived for the Thunder, as the Komets tied the score with 9:38 remaining and then took the lead with 25 seconds remaining when Nellis scored his second goal of the game on Thunder goalkeeper Evan Buitenhuis.
Wichita nearly tied the game in dramatic fashion in the closing seconds, as it pulled Buitenhuis and had one final offensive-zone face-off. A scramble for the puck saw it float across the face of the goal past Fort Wayne’s keeper and Bobby McMann appeared to have a chance to tie it But a Fort Wayne defender knocked McMann off his feet before he could poke it in.
“We made a few errors and I think all three of their goals were a result of defensive errors on our part that we can correct and get better,” Ramsay said. “Overall, I thought we played hard. We played with a good enough effort to get the win, so obviously it’s disappointing. But we’ll get refocused, watch some video and get ready for (Wednesday) night.”
This story was originally published June 9, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
.jpg)