Allen, TX (Nov. 23) – Ostap Safin scored two minutes into overtime to help Wichita get past Allen by the final of 3-2 on Saturday night at the Allen Event Center.
Safin, Cameron Hebig and Peter Crinella tallied goals for the Thunder. Evan Weninger was solid in net, stopping shots to preserve his third win of the year.
Hebig got things going for the Thunder just 3:40 into the first when he took a pass up the ice from Dorowicz, cut through the slot and lost possession of the puck. Zach Sawchenko whiffed on the save and it slid past him to make it 1-0.
Crinella increased the lead to 2-0 at 12:28 of the second. Wichita won a face-off to the left of Sawchenko, won a puck battle behind the net and Ricci found Crinella wide open for his second of the year.
Allen pulled even with a pair of goals in the third period. Jared VanWormer brought the teddy bears to the ice at 2:17 as he found a soft spot near the net and beat Weninger to make it 2-1. Olivier Archambault tied the game at two as he redirected a pass from Jack Sadek in at 10:36. Beau Starrett was awarded a penalty shot at 11:05 as he got slashed cutting through the slot. Sawchenko denied the chance and we played on. Both teams committed late penalties and Jason Salvaggio’s would carry over into overtime.
After Wichita was able to kill off the chance in the extra period, Safin ended the game at 2:31. Starrett drove the net up the left wing and Safin stuffed home his rebound for his 5th of the year.
Nine different players collected points for the Thunder. Hebig has goals in back-to-back games. Weninger has won back-to-back starts and saw his goals-against average drop to 2.37.
