Carolina shuts out Elmira to open season

ELMIRA, N.Y.- The Carolina Thunderbirds (1-0-0-0, 3 pts.) defeated the Elmira Enforcers (0-1-0-0, 0pts.) 2-0 on Friday in Elmira.

“We’re not there yet,” said head coach Andre Niec, “that was about 70 percent… and I think tomorrow will be a totally different game.”

Both teams were assessed matching-minor penalties just 21 seconds into the contest and things got more heated from there.

Elmira earned the game’s first major scoring chance when they had a 5-on-3 power play for 1:22 at the beginning of the second period. Henry Dill denied sharpshooters Gavin Yates and Ahmed Mafouz with seven saves during the man-down sequence.

“I love frustrating them,” Dill remarked.

Petr Panacek opened the scoring with a breakaway goal 19:30 into the second period.

“I was wide open with good speed and Johnny (Salak) just hit me with the nice pass… I made the move and scored,” said Panacek.

The Thunderbirds relied heavily on Dill to finish the contest strong, and he did—logging a 32-save shutout.

Daniel Klinecky scored his first professional goal, an empty-net insurance marker, to seal the victory for Carolina.

The two teams will faceoff tomorrow at 7:05 p.m. to finish off the weekend. Carolina is now 17-1-0-1 against Elmira all time.