Thunderbolts Sweep Weekend in Pensacola with 2-1 Win

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.

Season tickets, Individual game tickets and group packages are on sale for the 2025-26 season.  Call 812-422-BOLT(2658) or visit our website (www.evansvillethunderbolts.com) for details.

About Evansville Thunderbolts: The Evansville Thunderbolts is the area’s only professional hockey team. The Thunderbolts are a proud member of the SPHL.  The team is owned and operated by VW Sports, L.L.C, a subsidiary of VenuWorks, Inc. www.evansvillethunderbolts.com

Karpinski Leads Thunderbolts to 3-2 Comeback Win over Ice Flyers

Pensacola, Fl.:  Behind stellar goaltending from Cody Karpinski against his former team, the Thunderbolts rallied from a 2-0 deficit to come back and defeat the Ice Flyers 3-2 in a shootout on Friday night at the Pensacola Bay Center.  The Thunderbolts’ next home game at Ford Center will be on Friday, January 23rd against the Birmingham Bulls at 7:00pm CT.

Pensacola grabbed the game’s first lead late in the first period, with Tyler Burnie scoring on a back-door pass at 15:50.  48 seconds later, the Ice Flyers doubled their lead to 2-0 as Zack Jones scored on a 2-on-1 rush at 16:38.  Evansville’s trend of strong second periods continued, starting with Connor Tait batting in a puck at the side of the net from Eelis Laaksonen and Will van der Veen at 7:41 to trim the deficit to 2-1 Pensacola.  On the power play late in the period, the Thunderbolts nearly fell behind 3-1 with a shorthanded 2-on-0 rush by Pensacola as Tyler Burnie passed across to Tyler German, but a sure goal was robbed by Karpinski, who dove across to make the pad save.  The save proved to be a massive momentum swinger, as Evansville scored one second after the power play expired to tie the game 2-2, with Berkopec scoring the goal from Myles Abbate at 17:11.  After a scoreless third period and overtime, where Karpinski again denied a 2-on-0 scoring chance, the game went to a shootout.  Behind goals in the first round by Scott Kirton and fourth round from Abbate and another 4 saves on 5 shootout attempts by Karpinski, Evansville ended their losing streak of five consecutive shootouts and completed the comeback, 3-2 the final score to open the weekend doubleheader at Pensacola.

Abbate scored the shootout-winning goal plus an assist, with Tait and Berkopec also scoring one goal each.  In goal, Cody Karpinski stopped 30 of 32 shots on goal in regulation and overtime and 4 of 5 in the shootout for his 2nd win of the season.  The Thunderbolts and Ice Flyers meet again on Saturday, January 17th at Pensacola Bay Center, with Evansville leading the regular season series 1-0.

Season tickets, Individual game tickets and group packages are on sale for the 2025-26 season.  Call 812-422-BOLT(2658) or visit our website (www.evansvillethunderbolts.com) for details.

About Evansville Thunderbolts: The Evansville Thunderbolts is the area’s only professional hockey team. The Thunderbolts are a proud member of the SPHL.  The team is owned and operated by VW Sports, L.L.C, a subsidiary of VenuWorks, Inc. www.evansvillethunderbolts.com

Keanan Stewart Returns from ECHL; Thiessen loaned to Idaho (ECHL)

Prior to Friday night's game in Pensacola, Head Coach/Director of Hockey Operations Jeff Bes announced a pair of transactions, led by the return of forward Keanan Stewart from call-up to the ECHL's Iowa Heartlanders.

Stewart returns to Evansville after just over a month in Iowa, where he played 6 games and scored 1 goal, and has now tallied 4 goals and 12 points in 60 career ECHL games with Iowa, Cincinnati and Adirondack.  The native of Guelph, Ontario has been off to a fantastic start in his Thunderbolts career, having scored 5 goals and 8 points along with a +5 rating so far in 7 games with Evansville.  

In additional transaction news, defenseman Max Thiessen has been called up to the ECHL's Idaho Steelheads.  Thiessen has played 12 games in his rookie season with Evansville, recording two assists.

Thunderbolts Sign Defensemen Yushkevich and Simard; Woernle on IR

Prior to Wednesday night's game against Birmingham, Head Coach/Director of Hockey Operations Jeff Bes announced a trio of transactions, led by the signing of defensemen Dmitri Yushkevich and Beren Simard to standard contracts. 

Yushkevich previously played for the Thunderbolts in the 2023-24 season after a brief two game stint in the ECHL with Wichita, scoring 4 goals and 15 points while registering a +6 rating in 51 regular season games, before playing a significant role in Evansville's playoff upset of the Birmingham Bulls, scoring two goals and adding two assists in the five playoff games against Birmingham and Peoria.  Yushkevich, who was born in Toronto, Ontario but holds both Canadian and Russian citizenship, played with Molot Perm of the VHL in Russia in 2024-25, recording 4 assists in 28 games.  Overall, Yushkevich has played in 233 games in the VHL, Russia's second-highest ranked professional league, scoring 10 goals and 41 points since 2017-18, while also skating in 4 KHL games in 2017-18 with Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk.  

Simard, a native of Montreal, Quebec, turns professional with the Thunderbolts after two seasons of junior hockey in the MJAHL with West Kent, Campbellton, and Yarmouth from 2023-2025, scoring 8 goals and 48 points in 98 regular season games.  Simard also played just over one full season in the QMJHL with Charlottetown and Drummondville between 2021-2023, skating in 44 games and tallying 1 assist.

In additional transaction news, defenseman John Woernle has been placed on 14-Day injured reserve.

Thunderbolts Bounce Back with 3-2 Win in Huntsville

Huntsville, Ala.:  After a difficult loss on Friday night, the Thunderbolts responded with a strong performance and a 3-2 comeback victory over the Havoc in Huntsville on Saturday night, taking 3 out of 4 points on the weekend.  The Thunderbolts’ next home game at Ford Center will be on Wednesday, January 14th against the Birmingham Bulls at 7:00pm CT.

The Thunderbolts and Havoc battled nearly evenly in the first period, with both teams registering 10 shots apiece and Evansville hitting the post twice.  The Havoc managed to grab the opening lead with the first period’s only goal, scored by Cole Reginato at 10:27.  In the second period, Evansville came back to tie as Cameron MacPhee set up a two man rush to the net with Tyson Gilmour finding Scott Kirton for the tying goal at 4:39.  On a 5-on-3 power play, Evansville grabbed the lead as Matthew Hobbs scored from Myles Abbate and Kirton at 7:34.  In the third period, Evansville’s 2-1 lead held through two successful penalty kills, and then the Thunderbolts got some insurance with 7:03 remaining as Will van der Veen scored through traffic from Isaac Chapman and Derek Contessa to make it 3-1 Evansville.  The Havoc got back to within one with 4:12 remaining as Reginato scored his second goal of the night off the rush to make it a one-goal contest.  Evansville defended well even with the Havoc pulling the goaltender late, and the Thunderbolts held on the rest of the way to secure the 3-2 victory in their final game in Huntsville this regular season.

Kirton led the way with a goal and assist, while Hobbs and Van der Veen added one goal each.  In goal, Kristian Stead stopped 32 of 34 shots on goal for his 13th win of the season.  The Thunderbolts and Havoc meet again on Friday, February 13th at Ford Center, with Huntsville leading the regular season series 3-2.

Season tickets, Individual game tickets and group packages are on sale for the 2025-26 season.  Call 812-422-BOLT(2658) or visit our website (www.evansvillethunderbolts.com) for details.

About Evansville Thunderbolts: The Evansville Thunderbolts is the area’s only professional hockey team. The Thunderbolts are a proud member of the SPHL.  The team is owned and operated by VW Sports, L.L.C, a subsidiary of VenuWorks, Inc. www.evansvillethunderbolts.com