For immediate release
For more information, contact: Joel Silverberg, Director of Broadcasting (865) 525-7825, joel@knoxvilleicebears.com.
Davide Gaeta scored at 8:33 of the third period to put Knoxville ahead for good and the Ice Bears defeated the Birmingham Bulls 3-2 at the Civic Coliseum Friday night.
Knoxville has won six of its last eight games. Birmingham has dropped four straight.
Billy Roche entered the zone up the middle and chipped a pass to Blake Tosto, who waited for Gaeta to work his way through the right wing before feeding him in the high slot. Gaeta turned and roped a wrist shot down low past the right pad of Hayden Stewart for his fourth goal of the season.
The Bulls nearly tied the game moments later with a crossing pass to Drake Glover in the right circle, but Stephen Mundinger managed to knock the puck away with his glove as it headed for the short side of the net. Mundinger finished with 30 saves.
Both goalies made impressive saves early on in the first period. Mundinger poke-checked the puck off Parker Saretsky’s stick on a breakaway and slid across to his right to hold on to Shawn Kennedy’s follow-up attempt from the left hash. Mundinger later gloved a shot from the point from Philippe Caron and stopped Arkhip Ledziankou’s chance from the slot. At the other end, Stewart stopped Brayden Stannard on a loose puck in front of the crease, denied Jared Westcott from the left circle and fought off Tyler Williams’ low wrist shot with a pad save. Stewart stopped 44 shots.
Knoxville provided the only goal of the first period with Robin Liljekvist’s first score of the year. Jimmy Soper took the puck in transition through the neutral zone and slipped a pass to Liljekvist, who pulled back for a slap shot from the left wing. His shot deflected off Kevin Sadovski’s stick and past Stewart at 8:27.
Ryan Kuzmich gave Knoxville a 2-0 lead with a redirect goal less than two minutes into the second. Carson Vance held the blue line on a Birmingham clearing attempt at the left point. Kuzmich deflected Vance’s shot in the slot and knocked it past Stewart for his fifth of the year.
Tim Kent put Birmingham on the board at 13:44 by finishing off a three-on-two thanks to a cross-ice feed from Shawn Kennedy. Kent tied the game with his second of the period with a quick shot from in front of the crease that slid underneath Mundinger less than two minutes before the second intermission.
Birmingham pulled Stewart with a little more than two minutes remaining in an attempt to tie the game, but Troy Button blocked a shot in the slot and Soper knocked down a shot in the right circle. Brendan Dowler blocked a hard shot in front and went down to his knees after he was hit. He blocked a second attempt while down and swiped out the ensuing rebound across the blue line to allow Knoxville to change.
Knoxville visits Fayetteville Saturday night. The Bulls hit the road to visit Roanoke Saturday.
ABOUT The Knoxville Ice Bears: The Knoxville Ice Bears organization began in 2002 and was an inaugural charter member of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) in 2004. As four-time SPHL Champions and five-time regular season champions, the Ice Bears are an experienced and established organization, offering the city and its visitors a balanced product of highlight-reel hockey, unique and exciting intermission activity and endless fan interaction, presenting the most affordable, family-friendly way to enjoy sports and entertainment. Season, Partial Season and Flex Tickets are now on sale. For more information, visit www.knoxvilleicebears.com or call (865) 525-7825.
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