Evansville, In.:  Despite heavily outshooting the Ice Bears 45-23 on home ice, Knoxville goaltender Zane Steeves stole the game for Knoxville, as the Thunderbolts were held to a single goal in a 2-1 loss on Friday night at Ford Center.  The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Saturday, February 3rd against the Knoxville Ice Bears, puck drop at 7:00pm CT.
A late first period power play allowed Rex Moe to give the Ice Bears a 1-0 lead at 14:32 of the first period, before Dawson McKinney doubled the lead to 2-0 at 4:04 of the second period. It was all Evansville the rest of the way, and they finally got on the scoreboard in the opening moments of the third period as Myles Abbate scored on the power play from Grayson Valente and Vadim Vasjonkin to pull Evansville to within 2-1. Evansville appeared to score again just over a minute later, but the goal was waived off due to a high stick redirection, a call that was confirmed following video review. The Thunderbolts outshot the Ice Bears 21-6 in the third period, but somehow could not find the tying goal.
Abbate finished with Evansville’s goal, while Brendahn Brawley finished with 21 saves on 23 shots faced in his Thunderbolts debut.  The Thunderbolts and Ice Beats meet for the final time this season on Saturday, February 3rd at Ford Center.
Individual game tickets and group packages are on sale for this 2023-24 season. Season tickets for the 2023-24 season are also on sale. Call 812-422-BOLT or visit our all-new website (www.evansvillethunderbolts.com) for details.
