Thunder return home with a thud

The Thunder speaks of progress in incremental terms, like losing close games or playing reasonably well in the face of adversity.

The regressions are more frequent and far more severe.

Wichita fell 6-1 to Cincinnati on Sunday at Intrust Bank Arena, its first home game in more than three weeks. The Thunder lost six of seven on the road — one in a shootout — and returned home with its problems still intact.

The Thunder lost by three or more goals for the 10th time in 18 regulation losses, pushing the total margin in those defeats to 50-13. Wichita hasn’t scored more than two goals in any of those games, a damaging mark against the Thunder’s desire to play physically and aim for low-scoring contests.

Cincinnati had a 35-16 shots advantage, marking the seventh time the Thunder has been outshot by double digits. In those games, Wichita has been outscored 26-10.

“It wasn’t pretty hockey,” Thunder coach Kevin McClelland said. “It looked like they almost took Christmas break a little bit early. I’ve seen that happen with teams I’ve coached before. Nothing was really happening early on, then we make a couple gaffes and it’s in our net. After that, the flood gates opened.”

As in many of this season’s losses, the Thunder experienced a negative turning point before the rest of the game removed doubt as to whether a change in that moment could have produced a different outcome.

Sunday’s shift came when Cincinnati scored in the second period, just as its power play was ending, to go ahead 3-1. It was an important play that lost some significance when Cincinnati scored again 23 seconds later and added two more goals in the third period.

“We kill that penalty then get a shift in their zone, and we’re good,” Thunder captain Ian Lowe said. “But they score there and game over. You spend so much energy with four guys up front and four on (defense), so you spend so much energy killing that off. That took a lot out of us there, and it kind of changes the game.”

The Thunder had its second-lowest shot total of the season, a revealing statistic for a team that rarely gets out of the 20s. The games in the 30s, though, offer an exception that proves the rule – in those five games, Wichita has been outscored 13-11, compared to 76-40 when it takes 29 or fewer.

The difference is aggressiveness among the Thunder’s forwards. In games like Sunday’s, Wichita plays so dramatically hesitant that the opponent easily seizes tempo control. When the Thunder dictates, it is rarely overmatched.

“We’re not harnessing them, that’s the funny thing,” McClelland said. “They’re not being harnessed. We’re not a trap team — we’re a team that has a system of aggressive forecheck. They’ve got to do it. “…These guys, they can go. We’re not finding guys, moving pucks quick. That’s our problem.

“It’s a mental thing right now, and we’ve got to find our way through it.”

One of Wichita’s losses by at least four goals was to powerhouse Missouri, the top team in the ECHL. The other three were to teams with a combined 37-32-5-3 record. The Thunder has 13 players whose “minus” rating is equal or greater than their points scored.

“You can’t play like that,” McClelland said. “We went on the road and played pretty well in Tulsa, got three points (in two games). Then we come back and do this. It’s a continuing trend with this hockey club. I’ve really got nothing to say.”

This story was originally published December 20, 2015 at 10:12 PM with the headline "Thunder return home with a thud."