Thunderbirds Shutout Zydeco, 4-0

Winston-Salem, NC – For the second time in-a-row at home, the Carolina Thunderbirds shutout the Baton Rouge Zydeco, 4-0, on Friday evening at the Fairgrounds Arena.

Riding a five-game win streak, Carolina (35-11-2) struck first late in the 1^st period. Gus Ford was left alone in the slot off a pass from Josh Koepplinger and beat Baton Rouge (10-32-4) netminder Bailey Stephens on the forehand giving the Thunderbirds a 1-0 lead heading into the intermission.

In the 2^nd period on a 4-on-4 situation, James Farmer ripped a slapshot off the glove of Stephens that trickled into the net just 47 seconds into the period for his first FPHL goal, doubling the lead for the Thunderbirds, 2-0. Carolina held that lead after 40 minutes with Cody Karpinski saving all 18 shots he saw across the first two frames.

Over the final 20 minutes, Roman Kraemer found a deflection on a shot from the point from Farmer that skipped over the glove of Stephens building the lead to three. Less than four minutes later, Dawson Baker ripped a snapshot on the power play from the top of the slot, putting the finishing touches on Baton Rouge capping off a 4-0 victory.

The shutout was Carolina’s second straight shutout victory at home over Baton Rouge with Karpinski saving all 24 shots he saw on the evening. It was Karpinski’s second shutout this season after not recording a shutout until March 10^th since December of 2018.

Carolina and Baton Rouge meet for the final time in the regular season on Saturday evening in Winston-Salem. Puck drop is set for 6:05 p.m. from the Fairgrounds Arena.