WICHITA, Kan. (Feb. 5) – Wichita closed the weekend on Sunday afternoon with a 6-3 win over Rapid City at INTRUST Bank Arena.
Jay Dickman led the way with five points while Quinn Preston returned from suspension and added four points. Evan Buitenhuis earned his 13th win of the year, stopping 44 shots.
The Thunder raced out to a five-goal cushion, recording four in the first. Michal Stinil tallied his first of two on the afternoon at 7:15. He hammered a one-timer from the left circle past Daniil Chechelev for his 21st of the season.
Dickman made it 2-0 at 11:22. Stinil created a turnover at the right point and raced up the ice on a three-on-one. Preston fed it back to Stinil, who found Dickman across the crease and he tallied his 17th of the year.
Preston added to the lead at 14:08. He battled near the front of the net and put home his 17th of the season on the power play to make it 3-0.
At 18:43, Bates made it 4-0. He took a pass from Timur Ibragimov near the right circle, waited out Chechelev and beat him to the far side for his 11th of the year.
In the second, Stinil tallied his second of the game at 8:41. Dickman stole the puck behind the Rush net and fed a backhand into the slot. Stinil fired it past Chechelev to make it 5-0.
Rapid City didn’t go away quietly, scoring the next three. Max Coatta tipped home a shot at 12:07 from Logan Nelson to make it 5-1.
At 17:30, Keanu Yamamoto cut the lead to 5-2 with a power play goal and his 10th of the year.
In the third, Calder Brooks recorded his 18th of the year to make it 5-3. He took a pass from Matt Marcinew near the left circle and beat Buitenhuis to the short-side for his 18th of the year.
The Rush pulled Chechelev with just over two minutes left and called their timeout. Dickman found an empty-net at 19:52 to close the scoring.
Wichita went 1-for-3 on the power play. Rapid City was 1-for-4 with the man advantage.
Dickman finished with two goals and three helpers, which is a new career-high for points in a game. Preston had a goal and three assists. Stinil recorded two goals and an assist, giving him 53 points. Bates added his fourth goal of the weekend, giving him six points in his last two games. Cole MacDonald added an assist and was a +4.
