For immediate release
For more information, contact: Joel Silverberg, Director of Broadcasting (865) 525-7825, joel@knoxvilleicebears.com.
Dalton Skelly scored at 3:13 of the overtime period on a three-point night and the Knoxville Ice Bears scored three unanswered goals to rally for a 3-2 win over the Evansville Thunderbolts at the Ford Center Friday night.
Skelly had a goal and two assists to help the Ice Bears win in John Gurskis’ professional head coaching debut after he was hired in June.
Derek Osik won a face-off in the right circle back to Skelly, who fed the puck to the right wing to Tyler Williams. Williams moved toward center and dropped the puck back to Skelly, who skated through the right circle and fired a wrist shot past Cole Ceci’s blocker to complete the comeback for Knoxville.
Evansville opened the scoring when Scott Kirton found the twine at 8:44 of the opening period. Vili Vesalainen carried the puck into the zone and dropped it to Kirton, who fired a drag shot that beat Stephen Mundinger low.
Bronson Adams scored less than three minutes later to give the Thunderbolts a 2-0 advantage going into the intermission. Anthony Hora fired a shot into heavy traffic from the left point. Adams managed to get his stick on the puck to redirect it past Mundinger at 11:31.
Knoxville had chances to get on the board in the opening frame, but Cole denied Jimmy Soper from right in front and stopped a hard slap shot from Carson Vance on the left side.
Cam Tobey cut Knoxville’s deficit in half with a strike from atop the right circle. Soper and Mitch Atkins worked the puck up the left wing. Atkins slid a cross-ice pass to Skelly, who fed an open Tobey for a wrist shot that got by Ceci’s glove at 12:08.
Jason Brancheau kept in a clearing attempt at the Evansville blue line and got the puck to Skelly on the right wings. Skelly found Brancheau sneaking into the slot. Skelly’s pass was deflected by Evansville’s Curtis Judd, but Brancheau managed to lift a one-timer over Ceci’s blocker at 18:45 to tie the game after 40.
Myles Abbate nearly gave Evansville the lead before the break, but Mundinger held onto the attempt from the left circle with less than ten seconds remaining.
Both teams had chances in the third, but neither could find the net. Mundinger stopped an Evansville attempt from right in front of the crease and Ceci denied Osik’s attempt to the short-side post.
Mundinger finished with 35 saves in his Ice Bears debut. Ceci made 48 stops for Evansville.
The two teams will play again at the Ford Center Saturday night at 8:05 EST to close out the weekend. Broadcast of the game can be heard on the Ice Bears’ flagship station 92.5 WKCE-FM or on the Knoxville Ice Bears Gameday App.
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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