Evansville, IN: After spending a month in the ECHL on call-up with the Wichita Thunder and Maine Mariners, Ed Minney made his return to the Thunderbolts leading the team to a 3-1 victory, making 29 saves on 30 shots, including 12 saves on 13 in the third period.
Evansville got on the board first, as Eric Salzillo finished a perfect deflection play from Shayne Morrissey and Nick Wright at 15:06. It would give Wright two-thirds of the Gordie Howe hat trick, as he engaged in a fight with Al Graves only 1:20 into the game, and in a way, the torch was passed by Graves to Wright, who won the fight with a flurry of right-handers in the second half of the fight. The Thunderbolts would extend the lead to 2-0, as Nick D’Avolio scored on the power play at the 13:22 mark with an assist from Frank Schumacher and Rory Rawlyk. The lead would be extended in the third period, as Carter Shinkaruk found a hole in Quad City goaltender Ryan Mulder, putting it in the net to make it 3-0 at the 4:46 mark, from Brandon Tucker and Chase Nieuwendyk. Quad City scored later on to make it 3-1, but the Thunderbolts held on, especially behind Minney’s efforts, and another perfect penalty kill, which went three-for-three.
Article/Photo Credit: Evansville Thunderbolts
