Evansville, In.: Down 3-0 through two periods, the Thunderbolts rallied with a pair of goals and stellar goaltending in a strong third period to close out a 3-2 loss to end the regular season in Pelham on Saturday night.  Now, the calendar turns to the postseason, as the Thunderbolts will take on the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs in Round 1 of the President Cup Playoffs, starting Thursday, April 13th at Ford Center at 7:00pm CT.
Carson Rose scored in the first period at 10:06 to give the Bulls the first lead of the game.  A pair of goals from Jared Bethune in the second period extended the lead to 3-0, with the Thunderbolts getting their fair share of chances the whole way, in a game that got progressively nastier as the game went on.  After several skirmishes in the first two periods, the first official fight came 6:06 into the third period, as Pierre-Luc Lurette knocked out Troy MacTavish.  The third period also saw the debut of goaltender Lucas Fitzpatrick, who stopped all 15 shots faced, many in spectacular fashion.  Evansville’s first goal came at 7:24, as Scott Kirton scored his 25th goal of the season from Tanner Butler and Aaron Huffnagle on a 5-on-3 power play.  With Fitzpatrick pulled, Brendan Harrogate scored to get Evansville back within a goal, with 1:10 remaining from Cameron Cook and John DeRoche.
Kirton and Harrogate each finished with one goal.  Zane Steeves stopped 22 of 25 shots in the first two periods, while Lucas Fitzpatrick stopped all 15 shots faced in the third period.  The Thunderbolts will host the Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs for Game One of the best-of-three President’s Cup Quarterfinals on Thursday, April 13th at Ford Center, faceoff at 7:00pm CT.  Game Two will be on Saturday, April 15th at Berglund Center in Roanoke, faceoff at 6:05pm CT.  Game Three, if necessary, will be on Sunday, April 16th at Berglund Center, faceoff at 2:05pm CT.
