WICHITA, KS – Matt DeBlouw recorded a pair of goals, Kyle Platzer added a goal and an assist and Zach O’Brien potted two helpers as Wichita held off a furious rally from Indy for a 4-3 victory on Friday night at INTRUST Bank Arena.
Wichita scored three goals in a five-minute span and led 4-1 in the second period. Indy scored two unanswered down the stretch, but Joel Rumpel was too strong in net and grabbed his first win in a Thunder uniform.
DeBlouw netted his first at 13:24 when he buried a rebound from Platzer to make it 1-0.
The Fuel tied the game early in the second as Geoff Walker netted his first of the season at 3:33. Platzer re-gained the lead for the Thunder off a terrific pass across the crease from O’Brien at 9:11. O’Brien then set up DeBlouw’s second of the night with a highlight reel play to make it 3-1. Travis Ewanyk got into the act at 13:59 when his shot from the top of the left circle got through Collin Delia to increase the lead to 4-1. At 14:50, Zack Miskovic got one back for Indy with a shot from the right wall that snuck through Rumpel.
Alex Wideman connected at 11:13 of the third period with a power play goal that cut the lead to 4-3 in favor of Wichita. Indy pulled Delia on two separate occasions, but couldn’t find the equalizer and the Thunder held on for a 4-3 win.
DeBlouw, O’Brien and Platzer combined for six points (3g, 3a) and a +8 rating. Ewanyk led the Thunder with five shots on net. Rumpel earns the win, stopping 35 of 38 saves. Delia takes the loss, stopping 25 of 29 shots he faced.
WIchita went 0-for-2 on the power play. Indy was 2-for-3 on the man advantage.
Wichita and Indy close the weekend set tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. at INTRUST Bank Arena.
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