Moline, Ill.: After some early struggles, the Thunderbolts battled back to tie in the second period before defeating the Quad City Storm in overtime by a 2-1 score on Saturday night in Moline, the win extending Evansville’s streak to five consecutive victories. The Thunderbolts’ next home game at Ford Center will be on Friday, November 21st against the Knoxville Ice Bears at 7:00pm CT.
Quad City came out firing on all cylinders on their home ice and managed to take the game’s first lead at 17:28 of the first period, as Dmitri Toporowski scored through traffic to open the scoring. The Thunderbolts responded well and gradually took over the momentum in the second period, and on a power play, Myles Abbate scored to tie the game 1-1 from Matthew Hobbs and Tyson Gilmour at the 11:21 mark. The third period was scoreless, despite numerous chances, including a late shorthanded partial breakaway for Gilmour in regulation’s final two minutes. Evansville shined in overtime, outshooting the Storm 7-1, with Aidan Litke scoring the winning goal at the 3:27 mark, assisted by Matt Clark to win the game for Evansville, 2-1. The victory improves Evansville’s record to 7-2, including a perfect 3-0 on the road, and moves Evansville into a tie with the Huntsville Havoc for 2nd place, one point behind first-place Pensacola.
Litke and Abbate scored Evansville’s goals, while Kristian Stead shined in goal once again with 32 saves on 33 shots on goal for his 7th win of the season. The Thunderbolts and Storm meet again on Sunday, December 14th at Vibrant Arena at the MARK, with Evansville leading the season series 3-1.
