Thunder loses fifth straight game to Missouri

Ian Lowe left a lot of blanks that were easy to fill in.

Lowe, without specifics, said that Thunder coach Kevin McClelland challenged the team after Friday’s embarrassing home loss to Missouri. McClelland was similarly veiled regarding his exact message, but the parameters were in place: Don’t let it happen again.

“I think everybody was disappointed in the effort (Friday) night,” McClelland said. “We had to go out and atone for that game, and I think we did.”

The Thunder avoided another disaster Saturday night but lost to Missouri 3-2 in a shootout at Intrust Bank Arena. The margin of victory, and Wichita’s performance, was much more manageable than Missouri’s 7-2 win a night before.

The turnaround was evident during the opening minutes, which have produced malaise recently. Lowe scored 78 seconds in, gathering a loose puck that Peter Sakaris was unable to control and getting a wrist-shot past Parker Milner.

“He challenged us there and kind of called us all out,” Lowe said of McClelland. “As a man, that kind of hurts a lot when somebody comes at you and challenges you and tells you that you’re not doing your job. Everybody came out and put their heart on their sleeve and said we could play with these guys, and that was a start.”

Even though Missouri has won all five meetings this season, Friday’s game was the outlier. It was the only one decided by more than one goal and the only one, to that point, to include more than three total goals.

On Saturday, the Thunder (5-8-0-1) held Missouri’s playmakers in check, allowing a short-handed unassisted goal and a slap-shot goal from near the blue line. Missouri, even though it outshot Wichita 29-21, often couldn’t get closer to the net because of the Thunder’s physical play.

After the Thunder’s energized start, the game settled into one played in Wichita’s comfort zone. It disrupted Missouri’s forwards by knocking away passes and keeping them away from the crease.

“That’s a really good team over there. They have lots of speed and they can really move the puck,” said Lowe, Wichita’s captain. “If we have good sticks and get in the shooting lanes and do the little things right, it helps. Tonight we did the little things and told them we were going to be there all night.”

Missouri thrives in those kind of games, too, even with its superior athleticism. The Mavericks average fewer than three goals per game but surrender 1.61, so they remained steady even as the Thunder took leads of 1-0 and 2-1.

The game was tied for the final 17-plus minutes of regulation, and though Wichita came close to scoring during a hard-hitting extra period, the Thunder couldn’t keep it from going to a shootout.

There, both teams went scoreless on the first three attempts before Andrew Courtney scored in sudden death and Wichita’s Joey Sides was unable to match him. An unsatisfying ending – one point in the standings – to a mostly fulfilling effort.

“That’s a better game,” Lowe said. “That was (reminiscent of) a playoff game, and we kind of needed that after (losing) the last six. I think we played a little better, but in the end we didn’t win the game. But I think, as a team, it helped us to come together and know we could work through a little adversity. There’s a lot of season left.”

This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 10:39 PM with the headline "Thunder loses fifth straight game to Missouri."