For immediate release
For more information, contact: Joel Silverberg, Director of Broadcasting (865) 525-7825, joel@knoxvilleicebears.com.
Stephen Mundinger made 35 saves and the Knoxville Ice Bears defeated the Birmingham Bulls 4-1 at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum Friday night. The Ice Bears returned the temporary rebrand of the Scruffy City Shiners for this weekend and will play in the Shiners uniforms Saturday night as well.
The Ice Bears have won two straight. Birmingham has dropped three in a row.
Mundinger made ten or more saves in all three periods as Birmingham kept a consistent attack throughout the evening. He stopped a breakaway chance from MacGregor Sinclair late in the first period and denied a flurry of chances in the second.
Dalton Skelly scored on the power play at 16:58 of the first from the right circle. Derek Osik sent the puck to center and Tyler Williams tapped it back to Skelly to setup his sixth goal of the year.
Williams poked the puck free in the Birmingham zone and chased it down in the left-wing corner. He carried behind the net and evaded a hit before emerging in front of the crease and beating Austin Lotz down low to make it 2-0 at 13:12 of the second.
Carson Rose scored from the right circle on the power play at 16:02 to get the Bulls on the board.
Jason Brancheau scored his third goal of the weekend by deflecting Osik’s shot from in front of the crease to give the Ice Bears a 3-1 lead at the second intermission. Skelly fed Osik at the blue line and Brancheau redirected his shot from the left point.
Mundinger stopped all 12 shots he faced in the final period, including a close range chance from the slot and another off the side of the crease. He picked up an assist when he kicked the puck to Daryk Dubé-Plouffe in the slot and Dubé-Plouffe sent the puck down into an empty net to cap off the scoring detail.
The Ice Bears wrap up the weekend at home against Evansville Saturday night. Birmingham visits Roanoke on 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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