WICHITA, Kan. (Nov. 17) – Wichita returned home on Friday night to start a three-game series against Rapid City. Behind four different scorers, the Thunder claimed a 4-2 win over the Rush at INTRUST Bank Arena.
Michal Stinil and Peter Bates each finished with three points while Eetu Makiniemi claimed his first ECHL win of his career.
In the first, Stinil opened the scoring at 9:19 to make it 1-0. Wichita won a board battle in the defensive zone. Stinil skated up the ice on a two-on-one and ripped a shot through the five hole of Matt Radomsky for his fifth of the year.
Early in the second, Bates extended the lead to two. Stinil made a nice play near the Rush line, slid a pass over to Bates and he fired a one-timer past Radomsky for his eighth of the year.
Aaron Miller made it 3-0 just three minutes later on the power play. Bates tried to send a pass over to him near the right circle. He initially lost the puck, but Miller blasted a shot in the net for his second of the year.
Rapid City got on the board at 7:42. Keanu Yamamoto found Jarrod Gourley near the crease and he redirected it past Makiniemi to make it 3-1.
At 14:29, the Rush benefited from a fortunate bounce to cut the lead to one. Maurizio Colella tipped a shot near the blue paint. Nick Nardella tried to clear it away and the puck got past Makiniemi to make it 3-2.
With five minutes left in the game, Lleyton Moore tallied his second of the year to make it 4-2. He started the rush from the Wichita zone, gave a pass to Jason Pineo, who drove to the net. Moore pounced on a rebound and helped the Thunder re-gain a two-goal cushion.
Both teams went 1-for-4 on the power play.
Bates has goals in four-straight games and nine points over that stretch. Stinil had a season-high three points (1g, 2a). Pineo has three points over his last four games.
