WICHITA, KS – For the second straight night, the Idaho Steelheads battled back from a two-goal, third-period deficit to force overtime. This time, however, it would be the Wichita Thunder who would come away with a victory as Billy Exell delivered the game-winner right at the three-minute mark to give Wichita a 5-4 victory. Exell and Michal Stinil each had a goal and an assist for Wichita. Jake Theut earned the victory, making 32 saves.

As they had the night before, the Thunder used the power-play to jump out to a 1-0 lead. At the 3:55 mark, Peter Crinella, who returned to the team earlier in the day, won the draw inside the Idaho zone to Jay Dickman. Dickman passed the puck back to Cam Clarke, who lifted a laser of a wrist shot over the shoulder of Colton Point for his third goal of the year.

The Steelheads responded with a pair of goals, starting with a power-play tally of their own. At 7:26, Dawson Barteaux passed the puck across the crease to Colton Kehler who was just inside the left face-off circle. He blasted a one-timer by Theut to tie the score at one.

Idaho took the lead at 9:11. A.J. White won the draw back to Frédéric Létourneau, who lifted a blistering wrist shot over the blocker of Theut to give the Steelheads a 2-1 lead.

Idaho had taken command of this game, but Dalton Skelly tied the score at 17:47. Exell moved the puck back to Skelly at the point, who moved in about 6 feet before sending a wrist shot that beat the Steelheads netminder for his third goal of the year.

Idaho had outshot Wichita 18-12 of the first period, but the score was tied. In the second, it would be the Thunder dominating, outshooting the Steelheads 20-8. That enabled the team to take a two-goal lead heading to the second intermission.

The first goal came at 4:47, set up on an incredible play by Logan Fredericks. Fredericks gained control inside his own end, then worked his way up the boards, fending off the check before entering the Idaho zone. He continued to move down the boards, looking like he would head behind the net, but stopped just before the goal line, passing the puck across to Alex Peters who was positioned in front of the Idaho net. Peters had his back to Point, giving him only one option, going to the backhand to the far post, which is what he did, tucking the puck in for his second goal of the season.

Just before the 13-minute mark, Stinil scored his eighth goal of the season to put the Thunder on top by two. Stephen Johnson had control of the puck behind the net, waiting for Stinil to break toward the left post. Johnson passed the puck out to Stinil, whose initial shot was stopped by Point, but Stinil put in his own rebound to make it 4-2.

Wichita entered the third period with a two-goal advantage, but they have been struggling to try to hold these leads. That proved to be the case on Friday when Idaho came back to win in overtime and was the case on Saturday as well, as a pair of power-play goals tied the score for the Steelheads.

Kyle Marino cut the Idaho deficit to one at 6:04. The Thunder were trying to clear the puck out of their zone, but Shawn McBride intercepted the attempt at the blueline, passing it download to Marino who swooped across the crease before putting a backhander shot over the blocker of Theut.

With a little under three minutes left in the contest, Mason Mitchell tied the score. Barteaux fired a shot that Mitchell redirected by Theut for his eighth goal of the year.

It looked like déjà vu for Wichita, who found themselves headed to overtime for a second straight night. However, this time it would be Exell sending the Thunder crowd home elated. After Garrett Schmitz and Crinella sandwiched an Idaho player inside the Thunder zone, Exell gained control of the puck, speeding through the neutral zone and into the Steelheads end on a 2-on-1. It appeared he wanted to go to Crinella for the backdoor attempt, but kept the puck instead, lifting a wrist shot inside the near post with the game-winner. That was the fourth goal of the season for Exell.

Besides the two-point performances by Stinil and Exell, Crinella had two assists in the contest. Thunder defensemen accounted for three of the goals on the night.

The Wichita Thunder (16-21-6) moved to 3-0-1 in their last four games. These two teams will go at it again on Sunday. The puck drops at 4:00.

Gamesheet

By Robert Pannier