SteelHounds make quick work of Wichita Thunder

Youngstown jumped out to a 4-0 first period lead and rolled to a 5-1 win.
By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown Steelhounds made quick work of the Wichita Thunder in the opening game of a three-game series Friday night at the Chevrolet Centre.
The Steelhounds broke out to a 4-0 first period lead and cruised to a 5-1 victory in a game that had serious playoff implications on the line.
Youngstown entered the contest just four points ahead of the Thunder for fifth place in the six-team playoff field in the Northern Conference standings.
"This is just what we wanted to do," said Steelhound forward Jeff Christian. "We wanted to get off to a quick start. We haven't been doing that lately."
Christian, who was coming off a successful stint in the league's All-Star game and who was named the CHL Player of the Week for his play last weekend, said that the Steelhounds were able to make the most ofpowerplay opportunities.
"We got some early powerplays and we took advantage," Christian said. "That's what you have to do in big games and that gave us an early boost.
"It was tough for them to come back from that but [Wichita] didn't quit," Christian said. "We have to keep going these next two night because they are going to bounce back.
"They have a lot of good players over there and they are going to come out tommorrow with fire. We have to be ready."
Preparation was key
Steelhounds coach Kevin Kaminski said that preparation was the key to the opening win over the Thunder.
"We had a great week of preparation," Kaminski said. "We studied a lot of film and we were ready for whatever they were going to throw at us.
"I'm a little surprised that neither team came out with a lot of intensity for such a big game."
Both teams did come out of the locker room flat but it was the Steelhounds that drew first blood and that got the crowd of 2,987 pumped up.
Stephen Margeson drilled in the first goal of the game just four minutes into the contest and the Hounds were on their way to an easy victory.
Christian got the first of his two goals with 8:23 remaining in the period when he flipped in an easy goal over Wichita goalkeeper Sebastian Laplante on a great pass from Brad Patterson.
Chris Richards then tallied three minutes later on an assist from Christian and Margeson and Margeson scored his second goal of the game with 2:17 left in the period on another assist from Christian and Richards.
The Steelhounds scored midway through the second period on another Christian goal, this time on a great assist from Chris Shaffer.
Christian extends scoring lead
Christian scored a total of six points to increase his league-leading point total to 107.
Wichita tallied their only goal on a short-handed breakaway goal by Joe Blaznek to cut the lead to 5-1.
The teams skated without incident in a quiet third period.
Overall the Steelhounds outshot the Thunder 26-17.
Youngstown goalie Brad Roberts was outstanding with 16 saves for the game.
"Our defense did a great job of breaking down the Thunder opportunities," Kaminski said. "Again that is where our preparation paid off."
The two teams square off again tonight at 7:05 and on Sunday at 4:05.