WICHITA, Kan. – Wichita exploded for five unanswered goals and eliminated the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees with a 6-2 win in Game five at INTRUST Bank Arena on Saturday night. Wichita wins the series 4-1 and will await its opponent in the Berry Conference Finals that will begin next week.
Rio Grande Valley scored the first goal in each game of the series and was able to find the back of the net when Aaron Lee scored at 9:54. The Thunder responded less than two minutes later on the power play when Daniel Tetrault blasted a shot from the blue line and beat Bees starter John Murray to tie it at one. It was the first power play goal the Thunder had scored in the series.
The Killer Bees started out the second period with a tally as Dan Gendur made it 2-1 at 1:09. Just two and half minutes later, The Thunder tied the game up and scored the next five. R.G. Flath stole a pass in Killer Bee territory and tied the game at two.
Wichita took the lead at 7:29 off a one-timer from the blue line by Tetrault to make it 3-2. Flath scored his second of the game off a beautiful pass from Alex Bourret at 11:41 to make it 4-2.
In the third, Thomas Beauregard created a turnover at the Killer Bee line and scored just 31 seconds into the final frame to make it 5-2. Murray was lifted for Wylie Rogers, who finished out the game.
With their season on the line and down three goals, Rio Grande Valley pulled their goalie with 3:30 remaining in the contest. Kevin Young capitalized on that decision and scored on an empty-netter at 17:34 and the Thunder won 6-2.
Wichita won its first playoff series since 2004-05 when the Thunder beat Bossier-Shreveport in seven games in the Northern Conference Semifinals.
Wichita earned its 30th all-time home win in the post-season and improved to 9-18 all-time in elimination games. Wichita’s post-season record improved to 49-49 all-time. Wichita awaits its opponent that will either be the Allen Americans or the Texas Brahmas in the Berry Conference Finals. Game 1 is set for Friday, April 13th at 7:05 pm CST. The following images were recorded at the INTRUST Bank Arena on Saturday evening.
Rio Grande Valley%27s Aaron Boogaard heads into action.
Wichita%27s Daniel Tetrault skates past the bench after scoring against the Killer Bees.
Killer Bees goalie John Murray attempts a diving save on an R.G. Flath shot.
A srawling John Murray attempts to make a save on a shot by Wichita%27s Matt Summers.
Wichita%27s Thomas Beauregard looks to make a pass.
The Thunder%27s R.G. Flath during a break in the action.
Wichita%27s Alex Bourret moves into the fray.
Wichita players celebrate with Kevin Young%2C who had an empty net goal late in the third period.
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