For immediate release

For more information, contact: Joel Silverberg, Director of Broadcasting (865) 525-7825,  joel@knoxvilleicebears.com.

The Knoxville Ice Bears continued to generate offensive chances throughout the game, but came up short in a 4-1 loss to the Quad City Storm Saturday night at Vibrant Arena in Moline, Ill.

The loss snaps a four-game win streak for Knoxville. Quad City clinched the final playoff spot earlier in the evening by way of Macon’s loss to Roanoke.

Savva Smirnov scored on a rebound 11 minutes into the first period to open the scoring for Quad City. Dylan Massie scored from the left circle two minutes later and Brodie Girod redirected a shot past Stephen Mundinger to give the Storm a 3-0 lead at the first intermission.

Knoxville nearly cut the deficit with several chances throughout the second period, but couldn’t get anything past Brent Moran. Mitch Atkins was stopped on a breakaway, Moran held onto Dawson McKinney’s wrist shot from the right circle and kicked away Ryan Kuzmich’s redirect.

Jimmy Soper put Knoxville on the board with a power play goal at 16:27 of the third. Carson Vance’s one-timer hit Moran and Soper fed the puck across to Atkins in the left circle. Atkins slid a pass back across to Soper, who slid the puck underneath Moran.

Leif Mattson scored on an empty net to cap off the scoring. Mundinger made 26 stops for Knoxville. Moran finished with 32 saves.

The Ice Bears return to Knoxville to host Roanoke on Friday. Quad City will host Peoria for the front end of a home-and-home Friday night in Moline.

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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