For immediate release
For more information, contact: Joel Silverberg, Director of Broadcasting (865) 525-7825, joel@knoxvilleicebears.com.
Brady Fleurent scored twice in the third period and the Knoxville Ice Bears rallied to beat the Evansville Thunderbolts 4-2 in Friday’s season opener at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum.
Justin MacDonald and Cole McKechney also scored for Knoxville and Kristian Stead made 23 saves as the Ice Bears gave new Head Coach Brent Clarke a win in his SPHL debut.
The evening began with a pregame ceremony to raise a banner commemorating Knoxville’s regular season championship last year — the fifth in franchise history and the most in the SPHL.
With Knoxville trailing 2-0 late in the second period, MacDonald scored from a one-timer at the right circle with 12 seconds remaining to cut the deficit in half. Dino Balsamo fed the puck to MacDonald in transition to setup a power play goal for Knoxville’s captain.
McKechney tied the game at 7:42 of the third with a wrist shot from the left circle. McKechney zipped the puck through the legs of an Evansville defenseman, over the left shoulder of Hank Johnson and inside the far side post for his first goal as an Ice Bear.
Fleurent put Knoxville ahead to stay when he finished off a two-on-one at 8:44. After Stead made a stop from a close-range shot in the slot, Brett Ouderkirk broke the puck out of the zone and took it down the left side on an odd-man rush. He slid the puck past Tanner Butler over to Fleurent, who put it past an outstretched Johnson to give Knoxville its first lead of the night.
Fleurent scored again at 17:09 with a backhand over Johnson’s right pad. Nick Pryce checked the puck free in the left corner and lifted a backhanded saucer pass to Fleurent in front, who finished the play to provide an insurance marker for Knoxville.
Fredrik Wink and Aaron Huffnagle scored for Evansville. Johnson made 26 saves.
The two teams will head back to Evansville Saturday for the back end of a home-and-home series.
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.
-xxx-