‘BOLTS SCORE FOUR GOALS IN THIRD PERIOD FOR COMEBACK WIN IN PENSACOLA

Pensacola, FL.:  Down 2-0 early in the third period, Evansville scored four consecutive goals in the final 9 minutes to win 4-3 over the Ice Flyers in Pensacola on Friday night.  The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Friday, February 28th against the Quad City Storm at 7:05pm CT.

                Following a scoreless first period, Cale List scored at 9:30 of the second period to give the Ice Flyers a 1-0 lead through two periods, in what was initially a low-scoring game.  An early third period goal for Blake Tosto at 2:59 widened the gap to 2-0, and then the Thunderbolts were faced with a double-minor penalty immediately afterward.  The penalty killers for Evansville outshot Pensacola 3-2 while shorthanded for those four minutes, and then Evansville went to work when it was their turn on the power play, starting at 11:49 as Tyson Gilmour scored on a loose puck in the low slot from Logan vande Meerakker and Myles Abbate to cut the lead to 2-1.  On another power play at 14:22, Scott Kirton scored on a back-door pass from Gilmour to tie the game, also assisted by Abbate.  Off a 3-on-2 rush with 3:23 remaining, a Gilmour pass bounced off an Ice Flyer stick right to Kirton for a tap-in goal to give Evansville their first lead, also assisted by Cameron MacPhee.  With 1:47 remaining, Vande Meerakker scored an empty net goal from Kirton to make it a 4-2 Evansville lead.  Pensacola got back within a goal as Eimantas Noreika scored with 48 seconds left, but the Thunderbolts held on from there for the 4-3 victory.

Kirton finished with two goals and an assist, Gilmour scored one goal and two assists, Vande Meerakker scored one goal and one assist, and Abbate tallied two assists.  In net, Cole Ceci finished with 37 saves on 40 shots for his 12th win of the season.  The Thunderbolts and Ice Flyers meet again on Saturday, February 22nd at Pensacola Bay Center.