Evansville, In.:  After the Rivermen rallied twice in the third period to tie the game, a late power play goal from Bair Gendunov proved to be enough, as the Thunderbolts skated by the Rivermen with a 4-3 victory on Saturday night at Ford Center, moving up to 9th place as a result. The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Sunday, December 31st against the Macon Mayhem, puck drop at 7:00pm CT.
After a scoreless and penalty-free first period, Nick Prestia opened the scoring at 4:51 with his first professional goal, assisted by Matt Dorsey. A few minutes later at 8:21, Myles Abbate scored off the rush from Bair Gendunov and Prestia to make it a 2-0 Evansville lead. The Rivermen pushed Evansville to the brink in the third period, tying the game 2-2 with goals from Tristan Trudel at 6:38 and Alec Baer at 9:01. The Thunderbolts grabbed a 3-2 lead just a couple minutes later at 11:32 with Tommy Stang scoring from Brendan Harrogate and Jordan Spadafore, however the Rivermen tied the game again as Braydon Barker scored at 13:37. With a late power play opportunity, Gendunov scored at 16:40 from Chays Ruddy and Stang to put Evansville ahead for the third time, 4-3 the score. The Rivermen would go up on a 6-on-4 attack with goaltender Nick Latinovich pulled on top of being on a late power play, but Evansville successfully defended the lead with clutch defense and goaltending. Now on a three-game win streak, and a four-game win streak at home, the Thunderbolts have moved out of 10th place and into 9th, now only 3 points out of a playoff spot as the Thunderbolts continue to gel and build momentum.
Stang, Gendunov and Prestia each scored a goal and assist, Abbate finished with one goal, and  Cole Ceci picked up his 5th win of the season by stopping 32 of 35 shots.  The Thunderbolts and Rivermen meet again on Friday, December 22nd at Peoria Civic Center.
