For immediate release
For more information, contact: Joel Silverberg, Director of Broadcasting (865) 525-7825, joel@knoxvilleicebears.com.
Kristian Stead stopped 36 shots and the Knoxville Ice Bears wrapped up a three-game weekend with a 2-1 win over the Pensacola Ice Flyers at the Pensacola Bay Center Saturday night.
The Ice Bears (28-8-3) have won two straight following a four-game skid. The win also secured a regular season sweep of Pensacola (17-14-5).
With Knoxville leading 2-1 at the start of the third period, Stead made a handful of big saves down the stretch for the Ice Bears. He made a sliding kick save off a rebound attempt to keep the puck off the goal line with just over eight minutes remaining, stopped back-to-back shots from in front of the crease with five minutes to play and caught a short-range one-timer off the mask in the final two minutes.
Stead denied Pensacola’s first big scoring chance of the game when Brennan Blaszczak was awarded a penalty shot when Anthony McVeigh tripped him on a rush towards the crease. Blaszczak skated in through the right circle and into the slot, but Stead kicked away his wrist shot with the right pad. Stead finished the weekend stopping 69 of 71 shots in two games.
Dino Balsamo got Knoxville on the board when he redirected Jason Price’s shot from the blue line in front of the net. With the Ice Bears on the power play, Price set himself up in the zone and fired a shot into a sea of skaters where Balsamo was able to tap it past Cody Karpinski at 8:50 of the first.
Jared Nash doubled Knoxville’s lead before the end of the first period when he redirected a shot on goal that Karpinski was only able to get a piece of before the puck trickled across the goal line at 10:07. Alexis Girard sent in a shot from the left point and Nash got his stick on it for his second goal in as many nights.
Pensacola nearly got one back before the first intermission, but a one-timer by Balszczak from the slot hit the right post and stayed out.
Dylan Carabia put the Ice Flyers on the board when he collected the puck in his own end and skated into the high slot before lifting a shot over Stead at 4:42 of the second for the only goal of the period. Karpinski finished with 26 saves for the Ice Flyers.
Knoxville will visit Macon on Thursday night to take on the Mayhem at 7:30 EST. Pensacola visits Roanoke for a three-game weekend starting on 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, 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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