WICHITA, Kan.– Trailing by three early in the third, Wichita scored five times in the final frame to come back for a 7-5 win over Tulsa on Sunday afternoon at INTRUST Bank Arena. 
Kyle Crnkovic led the way with a career-high six points, including his second hat trick of the year. Peter Bates finished with five points while three others collected multi-point outings. Tyriq Outen claimed the win, stopping 32 shots.
Tulsa took an early lead just 43 seconds into the game. Drew Elliot was the benefactor of a Thunder turnover and beat Outen for his ninth of the season to make it 1-0.
Bates tied the contest at 4:32. He took the puck to the net after playing catch with Crnkovic. Bates slid it past Vyacheslav Buteyets for his 13th marker of the season.
Andrei Bakanaov made it 2-1 for the visitors at 11:02. He lifted a backhand over Outen’s left shoulder from near the crease for his fourth of the campaign.
Adam McMaster increased the lead for Tulsa at 4:35 of the second. He redirected a shot from Duggie LaGrone to make it 3-1.
At 13:36, Crnkovic netted his first of the game. Wichita caught Tulsa in a line change as Noah Beck sent a pass up the ice to Bates. As he was coming into the zone, Bates pulled the Oilers defenseman to him near the top of the left circle. Bates slid it over to a wide-open Crnkovic, who beat Buteyets to make it 3-2.
McMaster re-gained a two-goal advantage at 15:45. Wichita had a chance on one end. Tulsa skated the other way on a two-on-one. McMaster fired a shot past Outen to make it 4-2.
Early in the third, Easton Armstrong made it 5-2. The Thunder won a faceoff to the left of Outen. Tyrell Goulbourne created a turnover near the right wall. Armstrong found a loose puck near the faceoff dot and let a shot go that beat Outen.
Just 22 seconds later, Nolan Kneen recorded his first of the year to start the comeback. He started the rush himself back in his own zone. As he came down the left side, he fired a shot towards the Oilers net that squirted through Buteyets and made is 5-3.
Kirby Proctor scored at 1:10 to make it a one-goal contest. Jay Dickman won a battle behind the net. He centered one that Bates slid over to the left circle. Proctor unloaded a shot past Buteyets for his seventh of the season.
Crnkovic scored back-to-back markers just five minutes apart and gave Wichita its first lead. His first came at 8:09 on the power play. Crnkovic recorded his third of the game at 13:22. Dickman fired a shot from the high slot that was initially stopped by Buteyets. Crnkovic found a loose puck and slipped it just over the goal line to make it 6-5.
Dickman iced it with an empty netter at 19:20 for his eighth of the season to close the scoring.
Wichita extended its point streak to four. The Thunder tallied seven goals for the third time this season and recorded five in the third, a season high for goals in a single period. Wichita extended its streak of firing 30 or more shots to 10.
Crnkovic finished with a career-high six points (3g, 3a) and was a +5. Bates tallied five points (1g, 4a) and was a +4. Dickman had a goal and two helpers. Beck tallied three assists. Proctor recorded a goal and an assist.
Wichita went 2-for-5 on the power play and has two power play goals in three of its last five outings. Tulsa was 0-for-2 on the man advantage.
The Thunder heads on the road for the first time in the last six games to face Kansas City on Saturday night. Faceoff is set for 6:05 p.m.
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