BOISE, ID (Jan. 27) – Wichita played its second of a three-game set on Friday night against Idaho, losing 3-1 at Idaho Central Arena.
Michal Stinil returned to the lineup and tallied his 19th goal of the season. Evan Buitenhuis stopped 39 shots in the losing effort.
After a scoreless first period, Peter Bates appeared to give the Thunder a 1-0 lead at 11:22 of the second. He made a power move near the front of the crease and as he was falling, beat Remi Poirier. The official waved off the goal and determined that Bates made contact with Poirier, which resulted in goaltender interference.
Idaho broke the tie with 2:30 left in the frame. Owen Headrick made a nice play through center, came in on his backhand and beat Buitenhuis to make it 1-0.
At 19:08, A.J. White made it 2-0 on the power play. Matt Register stepped into the right circle and his shot was redirected past Buitenhuis.
In the third, Stinil hammered a one-timer from the left circle past Poirier to cut the lead to 2-1.
Wade Murphy scored a controversial goal to end any idea of a comeback for Wichita. The Steelheads won a battle in their own defensive zone and tried to fire the puck to the empty-net. Timur Ibragimov appeared to win a race that would have resulted in icing. Murphy picked up a loose puck and fired it in to make it 3-1.
Wichita went 1-for-5 on the power play. Idaho was 2-for-9 with the man advantage. The Thunder were called for 12 infractions and 43 penalty minutes, which ties a season-high for penalty minutes in a game this year.
Stinil has four points in his last three games and has 15 penalty minutes in back-to-back outings. Kenny Hausinger has four assists in his last five games.
