ALLEN, TX – Shane Starrett stopped 29 shots and Zach O’Brien added two helpers as Wichita held off a late charge from Allen and won 3-1 at the Allen Event Center on Saturday night.
Lane Bauer, Etienne Boutet and Marc-Olivier Crevier-Morin found the back of the net for the Thunder in the winning effort.
After a scoreless first period, Wichita got on the board first just five minutes into the second. Bauer caught a piece of a shot from Jamie Doornbosch from the blueline for the 1-0 lead. Allen tied it at 13:10 as Zach Pochiro found a seam and fired home a one-timer past Starrett. The Thunder re-gained the lead at 17:43 as Boutet caught a pass from O’Brien and buried a wrist shot to make it 2-1.
Allen appeared to tie the game in the third when Vincent Arseneau moved Starrett’s leg pad off the left post and the puck bounced over the goal line. The official waived the goal off and the Thunder still led 2-1. Crevier-Morin got to a loose puck in the Allen zone and scored an empty-netter with 30 seconds left to ice the game for a 3-1 win.
Bauer netted his third goal of his career. Boutet added his first of the season that proved to be the game-winner. Kyle Platzer added an assist to extend his point-streak to eight games. Starrett improved to 4-0-0, stopping 29 of 30 shots. Williams suffered the loss, stopping 27 of 29 shots.
Wichita went 0-for-4 on the power play. Allen was 0-for-2 on the man advantage.
The Thunder returns home on Sunday afternoon with the first meeting of the season against the Utah Grizzlies at 4:05 p.m.
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