Evansville, In.: Despite the eventual loss to the Bulls, Aidan Litke showed out against his former team, scoring twice and adding an assist in Friday’s 5-4 shootout loss to Birmingham on Friday night at Ford Center. The Thunderbolts’ final regular season home game will be on Saturday, April 5th against the Birmingham Bulls at 7:05pm CT.
The Thunderbolts blasted out of the gate, as Isaac Chapman scored from Litke only 47 seconds in, followed by Myles Abbate from Tyson Gilmour at 1:27 off a face-off to give Evansville a 2-0 lead. The Bulls answered back however, as Kolten Olynek scored on the rush at 11:57 of the first period, followed by Filimon Ledziankou on a breakaway 13:06 into the second period to tie the game 2-2. Evansville rebounded minutes later as Litke scored on a power play from Benjamin Linbderg and Abbate at 16:36 to give the Thunderbolts a 3-2 lead. 43 second into the third period, Litke scored again from Nolan McElhaney and Ethan Price to again give the Thunderbolts a two-goal lead. Shortly afterward however, Andrew Bellant scored at 1:44, followed by MacGregor Sinclair on a power play at 11:27 to tie the game 4-4 and force overtime, followed by a shootout. Scott Kirton opened the scoring in the shootout in round two, however the Bulls would score on three straight attempts to take the lead. Logan vande Meerakker got a goal back for Evansville in the fourth round, however it was not enough as the Bulls won the shootout 3-2 and the game 5-4.
Litke led the way offensively with two goals and an assist, Abbate scored one goal and one assist, and Chapman finished with one goal. In goal, Cole Ceci finished with 36 saves on 40 shots, along with 1 of 4 in the shootout. The Thunderbolts and Bulls meet for the final time this regular season on Saturday, April 5th at Ford Center. With the standings point gained, combined with the other results around the league, the Thunderbolts could finish in either 7th or 6th place, depending on the result of tomorrow’s game against Birmingham and 6th-placed Knoxville’s game against Roanoke, with Knoxville sitting one point ahead of Evansville. A 7th-place finish would result in a first round playoff matchup against 2nd- place Huntsville, while a 6th-place finish would result in a first round playoff matchup with 3rd-place Roanoke.
