Pelham, Ala.: Missing several prolific players and playing a man short, the Thunderbolts put a real scare into the first-place Birmingham Bulls, nearly pulling off the weekend sweep but coming up just short in a 2-1 loss on Saturday in Pelham. The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Friday, February 2nd against the Knoxville Ice Bears, puck drop at 7:00pm CT.
Only 2:10 into the game, Evansville grabbed an early 1-0 lead as Myles Abbate scored from Dmitri Yushkevich and Brendan Harrogate. Despite several good scoring chances, Evansville was unable to extend the lead, despite putting together a very solid effort at both ends of the ice, keeping Birmingham’s chances heavily limited and taking the attack to the Bulls’ end for several minutes at a time. The Bulls managed to tie the game on their 22nd shot of the night, as Nikita Kozyrev scored at 14:51 of the second period. The Thunderbolts controlled most of the play in the third period, however they caught a tough bounce late as Josh Harris scored with 3:02 remaining in regulation to give Birmingham the 2-1 lead, which stuck after one final effort with goaltender Ty Taylor pulled for a 6th attacker. Despite the loss, the Thunderbolts finished the month of January with a winning record of 5-3, the second consecutive month with a winning record.
Abbate scored Evansville’s lone goal while Taylor finished with 27 saves on 29 shots faced. The Thunderbolts and Bulls meet again on Friday, February 9th at Ford Center.
Individual game tickets and group packages are on sale for this 2023-24 season. Season tickets for the 2023-24 season are also on sale. Call 812-422-BOLT or visit our all-new 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