Thunderbirds defeat Breakers 9-2

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Twin City Thunderbirds defeated the Biloxi Breakers Friday night at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena in a 9-2 victory. Twin City’s nine goals scored set a new season-high for most in a single game. Jon Buttitta (2), Connor Craig (2), Nate Keeley, Jiri Pestuka, Kayson Gallant, Zach White, and Chris Mott all netted goals for the Thunderbirds in the win. Boris Babik backstopped the team to victory in net. Twin City will return to action tomorrow night in another home matchup against Biloxi. Tickets for tomorrow night’s contest are still available, and may be purchased by visiting WSFairgrounds.com, Ticketmaster.com, or by calling the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena Box Office at (336) 727-2236. Puck drop for the battle is scheduled for 6:05pm ET.

Nate Keeley opened the scoring during Friday night’s matchup with his eighth goal of the season at 2:31 of the 1^st period. Cade Hanley and Jan Salak each recorded an assist on the scoring play. Jiri Pestuka scored a goal for the seventh time this season at 7:50 of the opening period to give Twin City a 2-0 advantage in the battle. Chris Mott and Cole Crowder each collected an assist on the goal. The final goal of Friday’s 1^st period was netted by Jon Buttitta with less than six minutes remaining in the period. The goal was netted even strength, and was assisted by Jan Salak and Matt Garcia. Biloxi elected to make a goaltending change following Twin City’s third goal of the evening. Starting goaltender Anton Borodkin was replaced by Rahul Sharma after making 14 saves on 17 shots. Twin City outshot Biloxi by a 19-12 margin during Friday’s opening period, and the Thunderbirds skated into the 2^nd period with a three-goal advantage in the matchup.

Biloxi answered with two consecutive scoring plays during Friday’s 2^nd period to cut Twin City’s lead to one goal.  Chiwetin Blacksmith netted an even strength goal at 12:35 of the middle period to put the Breakers on the scoreboard for the first time during Friday night’s matchup. Blacksmith’s goal was assisted by Hugo Koch and Demitris Chirstou. Alfred Rotiroti scored Biloxi’s second goal of the night with less than fifteen seconds to play in the 2^nd period. The scoring play was assisted by Lucas Piekarczyk and Aimy Royer. The Thunderbirds outshot the Breakers by a 14-8 margin during Friday’s 2^nd period. Twin City entered the 3^rd period with a 3-2 advantage in the matchup.

Twin City completed the game by netting six unanswered goals during Friday night’s final period. Kayson Gallant scored twenty seconds into the 3^rd period to give the Thunderbirds a two-goal advantage. Gallant’s goal was assisted by Roman Kraemer and Zach White. Zach White scored an even-strength goal at 3:45 of the 3^rd period to put Twin City ahead by three goals. White’s scoring play was assisted by Roman Kraemer and Kayson Gallant. Connor Craig netted back-to-back goals twenty-eight seconds apart to push the Thunderbirds’ lead to five goals. Craig’s first scoring play of the period was assisted by Jan Salak, and his second was assisted by Cole Crowder. Chris Mott netted an even strength goal at 8:50 of the final period. Mott’s goal was assisted by Dominic Dumas and Jacob Schnapp. The final goal of Friday’s opening game of the weekend was scored by Jon Buttitta with less than eight minutes to play. Buttitta’s goal gave Twin City a season-high nine goals, and was his second goal of the contest. Matt Garcia and Chris Mott each recorded an assist on Buttitta’s scoring play. Twin City outshot Biloxi by a 25-7 margin during the 3^rd period, and by an overall margin of 58-27 during the battle. The Thunderbirds snapped a four-game winless skid, and improved to 21-26-1 on the 2025-2026 regular season.

Boris Babik collected the win in net for Twin City in a 25-save-on-27-shot effort during the matchup. Babik's victory in goal was his 16^th of the season, and 51^st of his FPHL career. Anton Borodkin dropped the game in net for Biloxi in a 14-save-on-17-shot effort. Rahul Sharma made 35 saves on 41 shots in over forty-five minutes of playing time during the matchup.

Jon Buttitta was named the 1^st Star of Friday night’s contest, with teammates Jan Salak and Boris Babik earning 2^nd and 3^rd Star honors, respectively. The game was played in front of 2,172 fans at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena.

Tomorrow night’s matchup between the Thunderbirds and the Breakers will serve as “80s Night”, and Sunday’s game is Pucks & Paws Night presented by Pet Barn. Twin City will wear specialty sweaters for Sunday’s game that will be auctioned off following the battle. Next weekend’s home series on Friday, March 27^th and Saturday, March 28^th will feature a two-game series against the division-leading Athens Rock Lobsters. Friday night’s game is “90s Night”, and Saturday is Atrium Health Night. Puck drop for Friday’s game is scheduled for 7:35pm ET, and Saturday’s game will start at 6:05pm ET.