Warm Leads Thunder to Fourth Straight Victory, 4-1

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Beck Warm stopped 42 shots to lead the Wichita Thunder to a 4-1 victory over the Indy Fuel on Friday evening. The win was the fourth straight for the team, helping to get them out of the cellar in the Western Conference. Kobe Walker and Jay Dickman each had a goal and an assist in the game.
The game was scoreless through the first 10 minutes, but the Thunder struck with two goals in the span of 26 seconds to take the lead. Dickman provided the first tally, netting his 22nd goal of the season at the 10:07 mark of the first. Lleyton Moore took a shot from the point that Dickman redirected past Fuel netminder Zach Driscoll to make it 1-0.
At the 10:33 mark, Walker extended the lead with his third goal of the season. Nolan Kneen took a shot that was blocked in front, but the Fuel defenseman was unable to locate the puck. That allowed Walker to quickly move in, blasting a shot by Driscoll to send the Thunder to the first intermission up by two.
Warm was spectacular, stopping 25 shots through the first two periods. The Fuel had plenty of opportunities, but they had no answers for the Wichita netminder. Finally, at 3:06 of the third, Brett Bulmer notched his seventh goal of the year to cut the Indy deficit to one. Kale Howarth took a shot that Warm saved, but Bulmer was not blocked out, grabbing the rebound and putting it in to make it 2-1.
The Fuel were back in the contest, but Mitchell Russell dashed their hopes when he scored his third goal of the season just after the eight-minute mark. Walker passed the puck to Russell in the slot, who waited for Driscoll to slide across the crease before lifting a shot into the upper corner to make it 3-1.
With 1:37 left, the Fuel pulled Driscoll, but Brayden Watts put in the empty net tally to make it 4-1. It was his seventh goal of the year.
Warm earned his second straight victory, moving to 8-11-1. The one goal allowed was his fewest since allowing one to Rapid City on December 3. Quinn Preston had two assists.
The Wichita Thunder (18-26-7) look to extend their season long winning streak to five straight games when they take on the Indy Fuel (28-18-4) on Saturday. The puck drops at 6:00 Wichita time.
By Robert Pannier