Evansville, In.: After a strong first two periods of play, the Thunderbolts simply ran out of gas in their 6th game in 10 days, losing 3-1 at Quad City on Sunday afternoon. The Thunderbolts’ next home game at Ford Center will be on Wednesday, January 14th against the Birmingham Bulls at 7:00pm CT.
Following a scoreless first period in which Evansville outshot the Storm 10-6, the Thunderbolts continued to push in the second period until they were finally rewarded at 11:32, as Derek Contessa deflected a shot into the net from Max Thiessen and Evan Miller to give Evansville the 1-0 lead. Terrible luck struck with 1:30 remaining, as a shot blocked away by Kristian Stead spun up in the air and dropped in the crease, and a Thunderbolts defenseman accidentally banked the puck in off Stead as he was trying to cover up for a face-off, leading to the Storm tying the game 1-1. Evansville stumbled in the third, and Jake McDonald scored on a 2-on-1 rush for the Storm at 2:14 to give Quad City the lead, with Jesper Tarkiainen adding a late empty net goal to defeat Evansville 3-1.
Contessa scored Evansville’s goal, while Kristian Stead finished with 24 saves on 26 shots on goal. The Thunderbolts and Storm meet again on Saturday, January 24th at Ford Center, with the regular season series tied 5-5.
