Evansville, In.: Led by two-goal performances by Matthew Hobbs and Dmitri Yushkevich, along with solid goaltending from Brendahn Brawley, the Thunderbolts defeated the Ice Bears by a 6-1 score at Ford Center on Saturday night. The Thunderbolts’ next home game will be on Friday, February 9th against the Birmingham Bulls, puck drop at 7:00pm CT.
The Thunderbolts opened the scoring at 12:29 of the first period as Vadim Vasjonkin scored off a Knoxville turnover, assisted by Myles Abbate. With only 14 seconds remaining in the first period, Dmitri Yushkevich doubled the lead to 2-0 with a shot from the blue line, assisted by Bruno Kreisz and Lincoln Hatten. Matthew Hobbs scored his first goal of the game at 5:51 of the second period, sniping a shot while in a 1-on-1 battle, assisted by Matt Dorsey to make it 3-0. Yushkevich picked up his second goal of the game by going to the net and deflecting a puck in at 13:11, assisted by Hatten and Hobbs to give Evansville a 4-0 lead going into the second intermission.
Only 30 seconds into the third period, Hobbs scored his second goal of the night by sliding home a loose puck at the side of the net to extend Evansville’s lead to 5-0, assisted by Hatten and Dorsey. Knoxville’s lone goal came shortly afterward as Derek Osik scored at 1:43 to shorten the lead to 5-1. A few minutes later, Evansville got the five-goal lead back as Brady Lynn capitalized on a rush to the net at 7:10, assisted by Vasjonkin and Kriesz to wrap up the scoring at 6-1.
Hobbs finished with two goals and one assist, Yushkevich finished with two goals, Vasjonkin scored one goal and one assist, and Lynn added one goal. Hatten tallied three assists, while Dorsey and Kreisz added a pair of assists each. In goal, Brendahn Brawley finished with 29 saves on 30 shots faced for his 7th win of the season and his first win as a Thunderbolt. The Thunderbolts and Ice Bears do not meet again this season, with Evansville winning the season series 3-2.
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