Thunder Explodes in 7-2 Win; Ofukany Scores Hat Trick

WICHITA, Kan. - The Colorado Eagles fell, 7-2, to the Wichita Thunder tonight, splitting the weekend series at the Kansas Coliseum. A night after being shutout, the Thunder exploded for seven goals, including a second period hat trick by Troy Ofukany.

Thunder/Eagles Box Score

The Eagles and Thunder skated to an entertaining first period that saw both teams register a goal and two fights as the period wound down. The first bit of excitement came 4:19 in when Tim Boron stopped Brett Hammond on a penalty shot with a nice right pad save. Morgan Cey then made a great save of his own moments later on the penalty kill when he reached across the goal to stop a shot with his stick.

Erik Adams got the scoring started at 10:23 with a power-play goal on assists from Ed McGrane and Greg Pankewicz; five of the defenseman's six goals this season have come on the power play. But at 13:44, the Thunder struck back when Curtiss Patrick's shot deflected up and over Cey before Jason Duda tapped it into the net. Then at 17:45, Fraser Filipic dropped the gloves for the first time this season in a great fight against Connor MacDonald, and Ryan Tobler and Jonathan Bernier followed suit just under a minute later.

The Thunder exploded for five goals in the second period -- three by Ofukany -- marking the first time this season (and just the fourth time all-time) the Eagles have allowed more than four goals in a frame. Ofukany's first goal came three minutes in when he scored on a Jordan Hack rebound, making it 2-1 Wichita. Adam Hogg answered at 5:15 when he knocked in a garbage goal from the crease, but it wasn't enough to counter the onslaught on the horizon.

At 7:06, Matt Byrnes put the Thunder back on top when he converted an odd-man rush after a Colorado turnover at center ice, and just 32 seconds later Duda scored his second of the night off another Eagles turnover. Then at 13:13, Ofukany notched his second goal of the period off another rebound and capped off his hat trick with a power-play marker at 19:32 to make it 6-2 for the Thunder.

Andrew Penner came out in net for Colorado in the third, but couldn't keep Wichita off the scoreboard either as Joel Hanson made it 7-2 with a man-advantage score at 4:24. Boron -- the former Eagle -- made some strong saves as the game wound down, finishing with 35 saves on the night.