Peter Bates tallied the game-winner with less than nine minutes to go in the third and Jake Wahlin tacked on an empty-net shorthanded marker to seal the victory.
Michal Stinil finished with three helpers while Roman Basran earned his first pro win with 37 saves.
The Thunder jumped out to a 3-0 lead, scoring twice in the first. Cole MacDonald connected on the power play at 14:11 to make it 1-0. During a two-man advantage, he worked across the slot and fired a shot through traffic that beat Daniil Chechelev.
At 15:29, Kyle Rhodes fired a one-timer from the right circle for his third of the year to make it 2-0.
In the second, Brett Van Os made it 3-0 at 9:10. Mark Liwiski chipped a puck up the right wing past the defender. He skated into the zone and found Van Os, who one-timed it past Chechelev for his seventh of the year.
Brett Gravelle cut the lead to 3-1 at 10:35 as he found a rebound near the left post and beat Basran.
Quinn Preston pushed the lead back to three at 11:44 for his 20th of the season. He caught a nice pass off the rush from Stinil and beat Chechelev as he ran into him near the top of the crease to make it 4-1. Chechelev would exit the game and Adam Carlson came on in relief.
Alex Carlson cut the lead to 4-2 at 15:42. He hammered a shot from the right point past Basran for his first of the season.
At 18:19, Logan Nelson tallied a power play goal to cut the lead to 4-3. He redirected a shot from Carter Robertson near the front of the net for his 17th of the year.
In the third, Max Coatta tied the game with a wrap-around on the power play at 10:20 to even things up at four.
Bates recorded the game-winner at 11:39. Stinil fed a pass from the left post to the slot and he slid on his stomach with a defender all over him. The puck rolled over the goal line past a diving Adam Carlson to make it 5-4.
The Rush had a late power play with just over two minutes to go as Connor Walters was whistled for a delay of game. Jake Wahlin found an empty-net at 19:34 to make it 6-4.
Wichita went 1-for-3 on the power play. Rapid City was 2-for-7 with the man advantage.
Bates and Preston each had a goal and an assist. Liwiski had two helpers. MacDonald has goals in back-to-back games.
The Thunder remains in the Black Hills tomorrow night at 8:05 p.m. to face Rapid City.
With Wichita Thunder release
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