Thunder attack rolls early in 5-1 win

With the sting of Tuesday night’s loss to Alaska still fresh, the Wichita Thunder took command early Wednesday, scoring three first-period goals and going on to a 5-1 victory over the Aces at Intrust Bank Arena.

The Thunder snapped a three-game losing streak and notched its 15th victory over the season.

Wichita scored two more goals in the second period, and goaltender David Shantz took it from there. He stopped 36 of 37 shots, giving up the Aces’ only goal with 56 seconds left in the first period.

“I felt pretty good,” said Shantz, in his second game back from injury. “It’s always encouraging when you get some really good support out there. It certainly takes the pressure off when you play.”

He had plenty of help, as his teammates blocked many of Alaska’s shots before they got near the net.

“As far as the team, it was a great collective effort out there, especially the men on the back end, the five defensemen,” Shantz said. “They were blocking a lot of shots, allowing me to see stuff. I thought it was one of our best efforts of the season.”

Thunder coach Kevin McClelland said Shantz has had a number of good outings this season.

“Shantzie was solid,” he said. “He stopped a lot, and he covered anything that was laying in the crease. When he’s playing like that, he’s pretty hard to beat.”

Newcomer Miles Koules, in his seventh game with Wichita, scored two goals and narrowly missed a hat trick when a third-period shot hit the goal post.

He has four goals and five assists since being acquired from Quad Cities.

McClelland said Koules and Kale Kerbashian (in his 12th game with the Thunder) have provided a spark since arriving in Wichita.

“Since they’ve come here, they’ve added so much to our hockey club offensively, and that gives the other guys confidence,” McClelland said.

Alaska jumped to a 2-0 lead in Tuesday night’s game, but the Thunder jumped ahead Wednesday on Koules’ first goal off assists from Dan Milan and Christian Isackson. Less than five minutes later, Logan Nelson scored his 12th goal of the season off an assist from Dominic Alberga. At the 11:20 mark, defenseman Donnie Harris scored off assists from Ian Lowe and Milan, and Wichita was rolling from there.

For good measure, Kenton Miller scored a second-period goal, his 14th of the season.

McClelland said Miller’s production means that the Thunder won’t be relying on just one line for scoring.

“The other team’s got to watch two lines now, not just one,” he said.

The Thunder will have another back-to-back home set this weekend, facing Missouri on Saturday and Sunday.

This story was originally published March 16, 2016 at 11:41 PM with the headline "Thunder attack rolls early in 5-1 win."