Carolina Handles Baton Rouge, 7-2

Winston-Salem, NC – After a 5-4 overtime loss to the Columbus River Dragons on Friday night, the Carolina Thunderbirds responded early and often against the Baton Rouge Zydeco, picking up a 7-2 win on Saturday night in Winston-Salem.

Carolina (30-11-2) jumped out of the gates quickly in the 1^st period. At the 6:59 mark of the first frame, Dawson Baker snapped a shot through the five-hole of Baton Rouge (10-28-4) netminder Greg Harney to give the Thunderbirds a 1-0 lead. Less than two minutes later, Carolina doubled its advantage after Nate Keeley lifted a shot over the shoulder of Harney giving the Thunderbirds a 2-0 advantage. 56 seconds later while on the power play, Roman Kraemer blasted a one-timer past Harney giving the Thunderbirds a 3-0 lead at the end of the 1^st period.

In the 2^nd, the Thunderbirds found the back of the net for the fourth time, this time with Gus Ford who snapped a shot over the glove of Bailey Stephens for his 31^st goal this season, making it 4-0. Baton Rouge did get on the board in the second with Bradley Richardson tapping in his second goal of the year on a 2-on-1 opportunity, but Carolina answered 18 seconds later. Keeley got his second of the night on a shot from the top of the circles building the lead back to four, 5-1, and Carolina coasted into the 2^nd intermission with the four-goal advantage.

In the 3^rd, both sides traded goals before Baker picked up his second goal of the night and the Thunderbirds rolled to a 7-2 victory, taking the three points on the evening.

Ford finished the night with four points on the evening good for his 21^st multi-point game this season while Baker has now scored at least a goal in each of his last eight games. Mario Cavaliere in his return to the Thunderbirds stopped 28 out of 30 shots to pick up his 15^th win on the season.

Carolina and Baton Rouge meet again on Sunday afternoon in Winston-Salem. Puck drop is set for 4:05 p.m. from the Annex.