WICHITA, Kan. – Wichita (7-18-0-2) returned home for the first time in two weeks, but couldn’t slow down Cincinnati (13-8-2-2) in a 6-1 loss on Sunday afternoon at INTRUST Bank Arena. The Cyclones scored four unanswered goals to pull away from the Thunder after Andy Huff cut the lead to one in the second period. Cincinnati takes the only meeting of the season between the two teams heading into the Christmas break.
Brandon Gracel led the way for the Cyclones with three points while Zach Budish added a pair of first period tallies that helped Cincinnati to a 2-0 lead. His first came at 13:24 and he followed that up with another at 16:27.
In the second, Huff scored the Thunder’s only goal at 6:10 with a nice stick-handling move at the left circle and beat Neil Conway through the five hole. Christiaan Minella recorded his sixth of the year at 18:05 to help Cincinnati re-gain a two-goal lead. Just 23 seconds later, Gracel scored his first of two on the night from the left circle that made it 4-1.
Cincinnati added two more in the third period with goals from Gracel and Joe Wilson as the Cyclones skated away with a 6-1 victory.
Tonight’s match-up was the first-ever between Wichita and Cincinnati. Huff recorded his seventh of the season and third on the weekend. Dan Milan and Danick Gauthier earned helpers in the losing effort. David Shantz takes the loss, stopping 29 of 35 shots. Conway earns his first win of the year, stopping 15 of 16 shots he faced.
Wichita went 0-for-1 on the power play. Cincinnati was 1-for-5 on the man advantage.
The Thunder have the week off and will resume action with a meeting against Tulsa on Saturday, December 26th at 7:05 p.m.
With Wichita Thunder team release
Contact the photographer: Ed.Bailey@prohockeynews.com
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