WICHITA, Kan. (Mar. 6) – Wichita returned home to start a five-game homestand on Wednesday night, earning a dominating 7-1 win over Tulsa at INTRUST Bank Arena.
Jay Dickman and Lleyton Moore led the way with three points while Nick Nardella, Bradley Marek, Michal Stinil and Jason Pineo each had two. Trevor Gorsuch was solid in net, stopping 46 shots.
Ryan Finnegan opened the scoring at 8:34 of the first period. Moore fed a pass from the left circle to the top of the crease. Finnegan won a battle and slid it through Troy Kobryn to make it 1-0.
Watts made it 2-0 at 14:39. He got to a rebound after Marek fired a one-timer off Kobryn’s leg and beat him for his ninth of the season.
In the second, Tulsa was awarded a brief two-man advantage and cut the lead to one. Josh Nelson recorded his first pro goal at 3:15, finding a rebound off a shot from Jarod Hilderman and beat Gorsuch with a backhand.
Wichita took control of the game at 10:04 when Stinil made it 3-1. Mitch Russell intercepted a centering pass in the slot near the Thunder net. He found Stinil in the neutral zone, who outraced the Oilers defenders and slid a backhand just over the goal line for his 25th of the year.
Early in the third, Pineo tipped home a point-shot from Nolan Kneen to increase the lead to 4-1.
Dickman scored a pair of power play goals just 10 minutes apart to extend the Thunder margin to 6-1. His first came at 6:56 when he put home a rebound from a Marek shot. He added his second of the frame at 16:36 with a beautiful redirection near the crease.
Nardella closed the scoring at 19:42 and made it 7-1. He came down the left wing and cut to the middle. When he entered the Tulsa zone, Nardella fired a shot through Kobryn for his second of the season.
Wichita went 2-for-4 on the power play. Tulsa was 1-for-5 on the man advantage.
Dickman finished with two goals and an assist. He moves alone into first place in the league with 15 power play goals. Stinil and Watts extended their point-streaks to seven games. Pineo has three points in his last two games. Marek added two helpers. Moore finished with a career-high three assists. Nardella had a goal and an assist.
The Thunder remains at home on Friday night to host the Iowa Heartlanders.
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