Thunder ends Allen’s win streak

The anticipation hardly built among the 5,110 fans at Intrust Bank Arena Saturday night when an Allen forward grabbed a Thunder turnover and raced toward Wichita goaltender Tyler Bunz for a one-on-one opportunity.

Bunz’ performance to that point – and in his last three games – probably assured Thunder fans that he was about to make another impressive stop. The lack of an audible buildup made the ovation Bunz received after the save seem even more booming.

Bunz stopped 33 shots, narrowly missing his third consecutive shutout at home, as Wichita beat the Americans 3-1 and stopped Allen’s eight-game winning streak.

The 22-year-old Bunz, playing in Wichita on assignment from the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, seems to have only gotten better since a 6-0 win over Missouri eight days ago, and his teammates have followed suit.

“I don’t know what’s changed from the past couple years, maybe just experience,” Bunz said. “Just reading guys and reading the plays a little bit better. With our team right now and the way we’re playing, our core group of (defensemen), it’s pretty easy playing out there right now.

“I think whoever’s in the net, you’ve got to be ready, but at the same time the team is starting to come around and play really good defensive-zone hockey in front of you, so it makes your job a lot easier.”

Bunz’s increased confidence has manifested itself in an increased willingness to take chances, like leaving the crease to keep opponents from advancing or shifting his positioning as he anticipates a pass.

What can look like risk-taking, though, is often instinct. On Saturday, Bunz seemed to be often scoping out Allen’s movements and playmaking plans before they occurred. Several times the Americans appeared to have an opening in the net only to see Bunz move to quickly shut it.

“I’ve seen a lot of situations over the course of (my) career, and you just see it,” Bunz said. “I’m even thinking to myself during the course of the game that I’m starting to react a lot quicker, I feel quicker in the net. It’s just making me ready. I’m set before the shot’s coming, and in previous years I was late coming across or late getting into my stance, which really hurts me.”

The only goal allowed by Bunz was only credited to Allen – Thunder defenseman Mike Wilson inadvertently shot the puck past Bunz during the first period when trying to slap it away from a group of Americans near the net.

Bunz’ most important saves came during the third period, when Allen had two power plays in the first 11 minutes with a chance to tie the score. One period earlier, the necessity for Bunz to preserve a lead was created.

In period full of Thunder turning points, Wichita scored twice, including the third goal in three games by Erick Lizon, who has four this season and is inching toward a career best of seven.

Lizon’s goal broke a 1-1 tie after the Thunder built more momentum when defenseman Dan Milan took down Allen captain Gary Steffes during a fight.

Wichita had the physical edge, as it does against most opponents, and used it to offset the skill of an Allen roster than has four 15-point scorers – Wichita has two, Ian Lowe and Danick Gauthier, who both reached that benchmark on Saturday.

Bunz took care of basically all of Allen’s opportunities, holding down the Americans in the first game Wichita has been outshot since Nov. 7, 11 games ago. With the Thunder playing for the third time in four nights, Bunz assigned himself the responsibility of setting an energetic tone.

“It’s a whole team effort,” Bunz said. “We’ve got our top guys banging bodies, we’ve got our goal-scorers scoring and the goalies on the team have been playing well. Just going into tonight, I didn’t want to do anything miraculous, nothing special. You just want to make sure you’re making the saves to keep the team in the game.”

This story was originally published November 29, 2014 at 10:46 PM with the headline "Thunder ends Allen’s win streak."