WICHITA, Kan. – Playing their fourth game in five nights, Wichita (30-25-2-6) couldn’t find any traction in a 4-1 loss at the hands of the Tulsa Oilers (33-25-1-3) on Saturday evening at INTRUST Bank Arena. The Oilers scored three times in the second period and held the Thunder to just eight shots in the first 28 minutes of the contest. Wichita drops to 2-4-1-3 against the Oilers and fall back into fifth place one point behind Quad City for the fourth and final playoff spot.
The Oilers controlled the tempo of the game from the opening face-off. Drew Fisher got the scoring started at 5:39. He mishandled the puck at the left face-off circle only to re-gain possession and fired a shot past Tim Boron to make it 1-0. Tulsa outshot the Thunder 13-3 in the first. Wichita missed the net several times off the rush and had a hard time solving the Oilers defense in front of rookie netminder Kevin Carr.
In the second, Tulsa increased the lead to 2-0 when Kyle Bochek stepped around a defenseman and slipped a shot through the five-hole of Boron. Jeff Jubinville scored the next two of the contest. His first came at 7:01 when a shot from the blueline found its way in the goal mouth. Jubinville got to the rebound and stuffed it home before Boron could lay backwards on top of it. His second came at 17:04, catching a pass across the zone and firing it into the twine to make it 4-0.
Wichita found a little bit of life when RG Flath scored his 13th of the season on a one-timer at 1:18 of the third period. That would be the only offense, however, as the Oilers sat back and settled to clear pucks out of their own end. Time winded down and Tulsa claimed a 4-1 victory.
Flath recorded his 86th goal in a Thunder uniform, putting him alone in eighth place all-time ahead of Jim McGeough. Danick Gauthier collected an assist, giving him nine points in four games this week. Todd Hosmer recorded his 17th assist of the season and finishes with four points in the last four games (1g, 4a). Boron suffered the loss, stopping 25 of 29 shots. Carr earned his ninth win against the Thunder this season, stopping 24 of 25 shots he faced.
Wichita was 0-for-7 on the man advantage. Tulsa went 1-for-4 on the power play.
Wichita finishes its three-game homestand this coming Wednesday as the Quad City Mallards fly into town with the opening face-off at 7:05 p.m.
With Wichita Thunder team release
Contact the photographer: Ed.Bailey@prohockeynews.com
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