Evansville, In.:  Bouncing back once again following a loss on Friday in Peoria, the Thunderbolts turned the tables in a high-offense game, defeating the Rivermen 5-4 at Ford Center on Saturday night.  The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Friday, March 1st against the Quad City Storm, puck drop at 7:00pm CT.
Despite a much better first period for Evansville, the Rivermen took the first lead of the game as Chase Spencer scored with 23 seconds to go in the period. In response, Evansville exploded for four goals in the second period to take a 4-1 lead; Starting the goal rush was Brendan Harrogate, scoring from Matthew Hobbs and Vadim Vasjonkin on a 2-on-1 rush at 1:38 to tie the game at 1-1. Mark Zhukov put Evansville ahead by firing a shot through a screen, assisted by Matt Dorsey at 3:12. On a power play, Matthew Hobbs deflected in a shot to make it 3-1, assisted by Dorsey and Zhukov at 9:13. Only 45 seconds later, Myles Abbate made it 4-1 by tucking in a puck around the Rivermen goaltender at 9:58 from Zhukov.
The fourth goal would result in a Peoria goaltending change, with Mario Cavaliere replaced by Nick Latinovich. The Rivermen controlled play for a long stretch after the swap, and at 13:25 pulled back to within 4-2 as Alec Hagaman scored on a power play. The third period was mostly scoreless until the final few minutes, when Braydon Barker added another power play goal at 16:48 to pull Peoria back to within one goal. Immediately afterward, the Thunderbolts gained a power play thanks to Dorsey powering to the Rivermen net to draw a penalty, and Bronson Adams, in his professional debut, scored on the ensuing power play from Abbate and Hobbs to give Evansville a 5-3 lead with only 57 seconds remaining. Peoria got one back however, as Hagaman scored again with 38 seconds remaining to make it 5-4. The Thunderbolts survived the final rush with Latinovich pulled, and Evansville held on to win the game and split the weekend with the Rivermen, maintaining a 5-point lead above the playoff line.
Zhukov and Hobbs each finished with a goal and two assists, Abbate with a goal and assist, and Harrogate along with Adams with one goal each.  Dorsey tallied a pair of assists, while Ty Taylor made 35 saves on 39 shots faced for his 2nd win of the season. The Thunderbolts and Rivermen meet again on Friday, March 22nd at Ford Center.
