For immediate release
For more information, contact: Joel Silverberg, Director of Broadcasting (865) 525-7825, joel@knoxvilleicebears.com.
Kishaun Gervais scored a hat trick, Hayden Stewart made 19 saves for his second straight shutout and the Knoxville Ice Bears fell to the Birmingham Bulls 6-0 at the Pelham Civic Complex Saturday night.
The Bulls have scored five or more goals in three straight games. Knoxville has now suffered its longest winless streak to begin a season in franchise history.
Birmingham threatened on several occasions in the opening period, but Zane Steeves made key saves throughout the first. He stopped Carson Rose on a breakaway and kicked away a redirected shot from the left circle. He also fought off shots through traffic on two Birmingham power plays before the first intermission.
Gervais finally opened the scoring for Birmingham when Troy MacTavish found him with a cross-ice pass in the zone in the right circle. Gervais’ snapshot hit Steeves on its way into the net at 6:26 of the second.
Gervais added to his lead when he received the puck by the crease. After Steeves stopped the initial shot attempt, Gervais put the rebound underneath Steeves for his second of the night at 17:58. MacTavish scored less than 40 seconds later off a rebound to make it 3-0 at the second intermission.
Nikita Kozyrev redirected a shot over Steeves at 11:04 of the third to make it 4-0. Gervais finished his hat trick with a shorthanded goal at 13:36. Dylan Johnson cleaned up a rebound at 16:34 to round out the scoring. Steeves finished with 49 saves.
Knoxville returns home to host Fayetteville for the front end of a home-and-home on Friday. Birmingham is at Huntsville Friday.
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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