WICHITA, KS – Dylan Wells stopped all 27 shots he faced, Mark MacMillan had three helpers and the Thunder knocked off Kansas City on Friday night by the final of 4-0 at INTRUST Bank Arena.
Wells earns his first shutout in a Thunder uniform while Keoni Texeira and Jeremy Beaudry each recorded two points.
The win helps the Thunder move into a fourth-place tie with the Mavericks and snaps an eight-game winless skid.
In his first game back since early December, Stefan Fournier made an immediate impact. He had a great first shift and was rewarded with his fifth goal of the season at 1:25. He found a loose puck near the high slot, cut through the middle and beat Nick Schneider to make it 1-0. At the three-minute mark, Steven Iacobellis tipped home a shot from Gabriel Verpaelst to increase the lead to 2-0.
Jesse Gabrielle gave the Thunder a 3-0 advantage early in the second on the power play. He caught a pass from MacMillan and slid it past Schneider for his ninth of the season.
Wichita was shorthanded for much of the third period, but did a great job of limiting Kansas City’s power play. The Thunder started the frame with a three-minute penalty to kill and also had a five-minute major called on Ryan Van Stralen for charging. The Mavericks finished 0-for-9 on the man advantage.
Texeira scored at 8:39 of the third to increase the lead to 4-0 off a great feed from MacMillan.
Wells grabbed his first ECHL shutout and second of his career. MacMillan had three assists to the lead the way upfront while Texeira (1 goal, 1 assist) and Beaudry (2 assists) had two points.
The Thunder travels to Kansas City Saturday night to close the weekend set starting at 7:05 p.m.
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