Second-period breakdowns stymie Thunder

Thunder coach Kevin McClelland tells his defenseman to count the number of opponents they see ahead of them to make sure no skaters have slipped behind. On Friday night, Wichita players lost track of the opponent and of each other.

South Carolina scored its fourth goal – ultimately not a difference-maker – when Thunder defensemen made an untimely line change. It left David Pacan alone on the blue line, and he skated in for a breakaway.

The trouble was that Pacan’s goal barely stood out – South Carolina scored two others equally uncontested during the second period in its 5-1 win over the Thunder at Intrust Bank Arena.

The Thunder (10-30-4-4) has lost five straight and 14 of its last 15. A win over Evansville last month is keeping Wichita from remaining winless at home since late November. The Thunder has lost 16 times by at least three goals.

“Simple mistakes,” McClelland said. “The simplest mistake to eliminate is on a line change, your defense doesn’t come off the ice. If you are changing, one come off and at least the other guy (has to) protect the middle of the ice. Until you see it go into the zone and it’s in a comfortable area and you can change, you don’t change. We got caught there.

“I’m not keying on that – we ended up losing 5-1. But that’s where the game sort of loses itself for us.”

The second period was disastrous for the Thunder, a calamity intensified by a strong finish to the first period that Wichita failed to carry over.

Instead of building from a momentum-shifting fight in which the Thunder’s Erick Lizon drew in former NHL forward Trevor Gillies, a power-play goal and an energetic penalty kill, Wichita unraveled with preventable mistakes.

A turnover led to South Carolina’s first goal of the second and its 2-1 lead. The Stingrays earned a 2-on-1 break spawned from a defensive breakdown, and the erratic line change made it 4-1. Thunder goalie David Shantz was left hanging by poor defensive efforts on all three goals.

“A little bit, but sometimes that happens in a game,” Shantz said. “That’s why goaltenders are in there, to make saves. Really that period should have been kept to one, maybe two (goals), so that’s on me.”

The Thunder plays South Carolina again on Saturday, a night after committing several correctable blunders. Wichita may not have an answer for the Stingrays’ speed and skill, but those discrepancies were barely a factor in Friday’s outcome.

The real culprit could be the Thunder’s tendency to see bad times compounded – to forget to count opponents or to lose track of when to change shifts. Basic components that probably don’t afflict many high-level teams.

“I tell these guys to count sweaters when they’re D-men,” McClelland said. “If you only see four, and you’re not on the power play, then you know someone’s behind you. It’s very simple, you know? Very simple.”

This story was originally published February 12, 2016 at 10:52 PM with the headline "Second-period breakdowns stymie Thunder."