TULSA, OK (Jan. 31) – Wichita continued its seven-game road trip on Friday night, falling to Tulsa, 7-3, at the BOK Center.
Michal Stinil had three points to lead the Thunder while Mitchell Russell had a pair of goals. Gabriel Carriere suffered the loss, stopping 26 shots.
Alec Butcher got the scoring started with five minutes to go in the opening period. During a net-front scramble, he put home a rebound to make it 1-0.
Easton Brodzinski increased the lead to 2-0 with a power play tally at 18:57. Just eight seconds into the man advantage, he walked down the left wing and beat Gabriel Carriere.
In the second, Conner Roulette made it 3-0 at 4:46. Duggie Lagrone won a battle below the goal line and fed it to him in the slot.
At 17:57, Solag Backich recorded his seventh of the season to make it 4-0. Michael Farren threw a pass across the slot and Bakich found a wide-open net.
Russell broke the ice for the Thunder just 41 seconds into the third. Stinil won a battle below the goal line. He fed it to Russell at the edge of the left circle and he scored to cut the lead to 4-1.
Tulsa answered three minutes later as Bakich netted his second of the game. He redirected a shot from Brodzinski on the power play to make it 5-1.
At 9:33, Nico Somerville cut the lead to three. He stole a loose puck near the Oilers line, came in on his off-wing and beat Vyacheslav Buteyets for his third of the season to make it 5-2.
Tulsa scored a pair of goals in a three minute span from Justin Michaelian and Butcher to extend the lead to 7-2.
Russell tacked on a power play marker at 17:08 to close the scoring.
Stinil collected three helpers and pulled even for the team-lead in points with 45. Russell netted his first two-goal game of the season. Somerville added his second goal in the month of January.
Wichita went 1-for-4 on the power play. Tulsa was 2-for-3 on the man advantage.
