Thunderbirds Wear Down Wolves for Win

By Jay Harris 

Watertown, NY - The Watertown Wolves split their weekend series with the Carolina Thunderbirds at Watertown Municipal Arena after a 6-2 loss on Saturday night.

Carolina's offense exploded early in the first period, scoring three goals within the span of a minute and fourteen seconds. Peter Cicmanec scored the first two goals twenty seconds apart, and their third came from Michael Bunn when he slid it through the five-hole at 6:17. Tim Santopaolo got the Wolves on the board two minutes after Bunn's goal when he had a fast break via a pass from Aleh Shypitsyn. Each team received a penalty in the period, overlapping for a minute and six seconds, but neither team could capitalize.

Anton Kalinin scored from Kyle Powell and Yianni Liarakos at only 33 seconds into the second period. The Wolves' special teams stepped up to kill George Holt's tripping penalty, which was the only penalty in the frame. Late in the period, Jiri Pestuka went top shelf on Jared Rutledge to end the period with a 4-2 score in favor of the Thunderbirds. 

Carolina extended their lead in the third period with two additional goals from Viktor Grebennikov and Bunn to make the final score 6-2. 

Jan Salak received the 1st Star of the Game with three assists. Josh Pietrantonio got the 2nd Star with four assists on the night. Michael Bunn received the 3rd Star for his two goals. 

The Wolves are back in action at the Watertown Municipal Arena on Sunday, February 24th to take on the Port Huron Prowlers. The action starts at 6:30 PM.

Photo credit: CMC Advertising Design & Photography