Thunderbirds Skate Past IceCats 5-2

By Dan Aston

The Twin City Thunderbirds were away with a split on the Pee Dee IceCats in the second of two road games for the IceCats. While the IceCats brought the heat in the first, Boris Babik stopped 36 out of 38 shots on goal, with Zach White notching two out of five goals for the Thunderbirds.

The IceCats came out of the gate pushing the pace, winning the puck drop. After a slashing call on Dustin Jesseau, the IceCats got to show their skill in the penalty kill. Patriks Marcinkevics extended his scoring streak, with a goal early in the first period, IceCats went up 1-0. Zach White punched one in to tie the game up at 1-1, 9:19 in. Ricardo Gonzalez spent the period making incredible saves, stopping 9 out of 10 shots. Deep into the first, Trevor Lord scored from the left faceoff circle, bringing the IceCats to a 2-1 lead. 

Though the second period started off slow, the action ramped up. Twin City was able to tie the game up, with a goal from Jan Salak, tying up the score at 2-2, with 9:04 left in the second. Less than 3 minutes later, Twin City took the lead, for the first time in the game with a goal from Gus Ford, bringing the score to 3-2. While letting in 2 goals, Ricardo Gonzalez was still making incredible saves, stopping 12 out of 14 shots, with an incredible save right before the buzzer. 

The Thunderbirds continued to bring the pressure in the third. Even with 2 powerplays for the IceCats, the Thunderbirds were able to kill both penalties. Zach White recorded his second goal of the night, 3:57 into the third, bringing the score to 4-2. The IceCats pulled Ricardo Gonzalez out of goal with 3:16 bringing an extra attacker onto the ice. Noah Hippolyte-Smith Notched his first goal of the season on the empty IceCats net, with 2:18 left in the third. Closing score 5-2.

Patriks Marcickevics of the IceCats was able to extend his scoring streak for another game, scoring one goal, with 7 Minutes of penalties. Zach White of the Thunderbirds tallied 2 goals, and 1 assist, earning him star of the game.

Both goalies made incredible saves this game. Boris Babik of the Thunderbirds saved 36 out of 38 shots, while Ricardo Gonzalez saved 27 out of 31. Both Gonzalez, and Babik made highlight stops throughout the night.

Going into next week's games, the IceCats (record now standing at 2-2), look to take down the Athens Rock Lobsters on their return to home ice. The next game, Fri October 24th, is also Hometown Heroes night. A special ticket offer for first responders and municipal workers is available by emailing tickets@peedeeprohockey.com. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:15 PM.