The Albert Lea Thunder has been quiet thus far on offense and its inability to generate scoring opportunities surfaced again Thursday in a 2-1 loss to the Wenatchee Wild at the NAHL Showcase in Blaine.

The Thunder (0-2) had just 20 shots in the game while the Wild (1-1) had 40 and the lack of production has Albert Lea coach Brad Zangs considering shuffling the lines for Friday’s game against Wichita Falls in order to jump-start some kind of offense.

“We had plenty of opportunities,” Zangs said. “I think that mixing up the lines is going to help and hopefully generate more offense.”

The Thunder were outshot 15-5 in the first period and 17-4 in the second period before coming on in the third for an 11-8 shot advantage.

Wenatchee grabbed the lead on a 5-on-3 power play in the first period when Jack Nicoll scored on a rebound goal. The Wild added a goal in the second period on a 3-on-2 rush and D.J. Vandercook sent a shot into the top right corner of the net to give Wenatchee a 2-0 lead.

Albert Lea got on the board with 22 seconds left in the second period when Nakita Feaktistov took a pass from Niko Kapetanovic and one-timed it home to draw the game to 2-1.

The Thunder power play failed to cash in again Thursday, going 0-for-5, but Zangs said it isn’t time to push the panic button yet.

“Don’t panic yet,” Zangs said. “We could easily be 2-0.”

It was the second one-goal loss for Albert Lea after a 3-2 loss to Kenai River Wednesday night.

Assistant coach Brian Murphy said the defense played well, despite allowing 40 shots in the game, and the main concern for the team is the offense.

“We just couldn’t generate any offense,” Murphy said. “We have to figure out what the right combination up front for scoring is.”

Brady Sand made 38 saves in goal for Thunder and Zangs has been pleased with his play thus far.

It’s the play of the forwards that could be better and it’s their play on both sides of the puck. Zangs said the forwards need to focus on defending players instead of chasing the puck.

“Our forwards need to work on every shift, and not become too complacent on defense,” Zangs said.

1ST 2nd 3rd

Wenatchee – 0 2 0

Albert Lea – 0 1 0

GOAL SCORING:

1st period: No scoring

2nd period: Wenatchee – Jack Nicoll (powerplay) (Junior Cadiz) 6:47

Wenatchee – D.J. Vandercook (Cam Severson, David Kurbatsky) 18:26

Albert Lea – Nikita Feaktistov (Niko Kapetanovic) 19:38

3rd period: No scoring

POWER-PLAY CONVERSION: Albert Lea – 0 for 5, Wentachee – 1 for 7

SHOTS ON GOAL: 1st 2nd 3rd

Wentachee 13 14 8

Albert Lea 5 4 11