Pensacola, Fl.: The Thunderbolts clamped down in Saturday night’s rematch in Pensacola against the Ice Flyers, winning 2-1 and securing all four possible points on the weekend, extending their regulation unbeaten streak to five games and counting. The Thunderbolts’ next home game at Ford Center will be on Friday, January 23rd against the Birmingham Bulls at 7:00pm CT.
The Thunderbolts dominated the Ice Flyers in the first period, outshooting Pensacola 14-3 and scoring the only goal of the period as Derek Contessa scored on a 2-on-1 rush from Myles Abbate at 12:29. In the second period, the Ice Flyers pressed hard and tied the game at 4:05 as Tyrone Bronte scored on a net-front pass. Evansville bent but didn’t break for about 10 minutes afterward as Pensacola pressed, before bouncing back to retake the lead at 15:34 as Eelis Laaksonen scored at the net-front from Evan Miller and Contessa to make it 2-1 Evansville. The Thunderbolts shut down the Ice Flyers on their only power play chance in the game midway through the third period and denied Pensacola any significant opportunities with goaltender Logan Flodell pulled for an extra attacker late, as Evansville secured the 2-1 victory, taking both games in their only trip to Pensacola this regular season.
Contessa scored one goal and one assist, with Laaksonen scoring the game-winning goal. In goal, Kristian Stead stopped 20 of 21 shots on goal his 14th win of the season. The Thunderbolts and Ice Flyers meet again on Friday, April 3rd at Ford Center, with Evansville leading the regular season series 2-0.
