Evansville, In.: After taking a 3-1 lead into the third period, the Ice Bears managed to come back with four goals to defeat the Thunderbolts 5-3 on Friday night at Ford Center. The Thunderbolts first home playoff game at Swonder Ice Arena will be on either Friday, April 15th or Saturday, April 16th at 7:00pm CST, exact date and opponent to be determined. For tickets, call (812)422-BOLT (2658), buy online at EvansvilleThunderbolts.com, or buy tickets in person at the Ford Center Box Office.
Derek Osik opened the scoring at 15:54 of the first period, assisted by Connor Chatham and Scott Kirton to give Evansville the first lead of the night. In the second period, Coy Prevost scored at 3:33 from Mike Ferraro and Austin Plevy to give Evansville a 2-0 lead, however the Ice Bears struck back as Andrew Bellant scored at 5:42 to make it a 2-1 game. With 1 minute left in the period, Plevy deflected a shot from Cooper Jones into the net to give Evansville a 3-1 lead, also assisted by Mike Pellegrini. The Ice Bears countered with early third period goals from Brady Fleurent and Chris Jones to tie the game, the go-ahead goal from Dean Balsamo at 14:41, and an empty net goal from Bellant to win it for Knoxville, 5-3.
Plevy finished with a goal and assist, while Prevost and Osik scored one goal each. Chris Janzen stopped 20 of 24 shots faced.  The Thunderbolts and Ice Bears meet again once more this Saturday night in Knoxville to conclude the 2021-22 regular season.
