Wichita Thunder’s ECHL playoff run ends in heartbreak with Game 5 road overtime loss

It was a heartbreaking end to the best season for the Wichita Thunder in nearly a decade.

The season came down to overtime in a decisive Game 5 Monday night but it was the Fort Wayne Komets who scored the game-winner a little more than a minute into the extra period for a 4-3 victory over the Thunder.

Wichita rallied from two deficits in the best-of-5 series in the Western Conference semifinals in the ECHL’s Kelly Cup playoffs, but the No. 2 seed came up just short on the road in the decisive game.

The Thunder were the first team in the ECHL to secure a playoff bid and contended for a conference championship until the final game of the regular season. The team saw Anthony Beauregard win the ECHL MVP trophy, while coach Bruce Ramsay was named the ECHL Coach of the Year.

On Monday, Wichita showed the same resilience it has all season when it rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the second period to tie the game on Matteo Gennaro’s fourth goal of the series when he stole the puck near the Fort Wayne net and snapped a shot through.

Fort Wayne retook the lead, 3-2, in the final minute of the second period, only for the Thunder to find the equalizer for a third time when Jay Dickman took an outlet pass from Alex Peters and finished his own rebound goal to tie the game, 3-3, with 10 minutes remaining.

After the game was sent to overtime, Fort Wayne won 1:25 into the extra period when Matthew Boudens scored to clinch the series at Memorial Coliseum. The Komets advance to face the Allen Americans in the Western Conference championship series.

This story was originally published June 15, 2021 at 6:00 AM.