Thunderbirds win thriller over Wolves

WINSTON-SALEM, NC. – The Twin City Thunderbirds won a thriller over the Watertown Wolves by a final score of 8-6 Friday night at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena. Twin City leading scorer Gus Ford netted a hat trick in the victory. Jon Buttitta, Corey Cunningham, Nate Keeley, Jan Salak, and Roman Kraemer also scored goals for the Thunderbirds in the win. Boris Babik recorded the win in goal for the Thunderbirds in a 10-save-on-12-shot performance. Twin City returns to action tomorrow night in a rematch against the Wolves. Tomorrow’s night’s promotion is “Pillow, Pucks, and Pantry” presented by Huntington National Bank. Puck drop for Saturday’s game is scheduled for 6:05pm ET.


Egor Filippov gave Watertown a one-goal advantage at 9:59 of Friday’s opening period. Yefim Mishkin recorded an assist on the scoring play. Trevor Neumann netted a goal with less than two minutes to play in the 1st period to increase the Wolves’ lead to two goals. Troy Andrews and Hunter Hall each notched an assist on the even-strength goal. Jon Buttitta scored his eighth goal of the year with less than two minutes to play in Friday’s 1st period to put the Thunderbirds on the scoreboard. Twin City outshot Watertown by a 19-9 margin during the opening period of Friday night’s contest, but trailed by a score of 2-1 entering the 2nd period.


The 2nd period of Friday’s game featured six scoring plays, four by Twin City. Corey Cunningham scored a goal ninety-six seconds into the 2nd period to bring the game to a 2-2 tie. Jan Salak recorded an assist on the play. Nate Keeley scored a goal less than a minute later to give Twin City a one-goal lead in the matchup. Keeley’s goal was assisted by Dionne Demke and Egor Ramanau. Watertown’s Egor Filippov scored a goal at 6:59 of the 2nd period to tie the game. Filippov’s goal was assisted by Vladamir Fadeev and Yefim Mishkin. Maquis Grant-Mentis netted a go-ahead goal for Watertown at 11:45 of the 2nd period. Grant-Mentis’ goal was assisted by Darion Benchich and Ian McDonald. Twin City made a change in net following Watertown’s fourth goal of the evening. Boris Babik replaced Chad Purdy, who finished the game with 13 saves on 17 shots. Jan Salak tied the game with a powerplay goal at 18:03 of the 2nd period. Corey Cunningham and Connor Craig each recorded an assist on Salak’s scoring play. The final goal of Friday’s high-scoring middle period was netted by Gus Ford with less than fourteen seconds left. Ford’s goal was his first of the night, and was assisted by Zach White and Connor Craig. Twin City outshot Watertown by a 13-8 margin during the 2nd period, and the Thunderbirds entered Friday night’s final period with a one-goal advantage in the showdown.


Roman Kraemer scored an even-strength goal at 3:32 of the 3rd period to give Twin City a 6-4 lead in the battle. Gus Ford and Zach White each notched an assist on the goal. Gus Ford netted his second goal of the night at 14:37 of the 3rd period. Ford’s goal was assisted by Josh Labelle and Connor Craig. Watertown answered Twin City’s run of four consecutive goals with back-to-back scoring plays at 15:36 and 17:09 of the 3rd period. Brad Reitter’s even strength goal at 15:36 of the period was assisted by Trevor Neumann and Hunter Hall. Hunter Hall scored the Wolves final goal of the night on the powerplay with less than three minutes to play. Egor Filippov and Matthew Gordon each collected an assist on the scoring play. Gus Ford scored the final goal of Friday night’s battle to seal a two-goal victory for Twin City. Ford’s goal was his third of the night, and was netted with less than five seconds to play. Zach White and Roman Kraemer each recorded an assist on Ford’s hat trick goal. Watertown outshot Twin City by a 12-11 margin during the 3rd period, but the Thunderbirds outshot the Wolves by an overall margin of 43-29 during Friday night’s game.


Boris Babik improved his personal record in goal for Twin City to 13-15-1 with Friday’s win. Ricardo Gonzalez dropped the game in goal for Watertown in a 35-save-on-43-shot performance. Gus Ford was awarded the 1st Star of the game, with teammates Roman Kraemer and Connor Craig collecting 2nd and 3rd Star honors, respectively. Twin City improved to 18-20-1 on the 2025-2026 season in the 8-6 win. Friday’s game was played in front of 2,680 fans at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena.  


Twin City is currently offering a special ticket through FEVO to celebrate the historic double gold sweep in Milano Cortino for the United States Men’s and Women’s Hockey Teams. Three tiers of pricing (Gold, Silver, Bronze) are available through this special. The Gold Tier includes two blue section tickets for $46, a nod to the United States’ Men’s team winning Gold at the Olympics for the first time in forty-six years. Silver Tier pricing includes two red section tickets for $33 in honor of United States Women’s Captain Hillary Knight’s team record of thirty-three points recorded in the Olympics. The Bronze Tier includes two white section tickets for $20.26, a nod to this year’s historic performance by each United States hockey team in the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. https://www.gofevo.com/event/Olympicdiscount23


Thunderbirds’ Family 4 Packs are designed to deliver an exciting and affordable night of Thunderbirds hockey. Three themed package options (Red, Black, White) are available as part of this special promotion. The Red Pack includes four glow sticks and four White Section tickets for $64, creating a high-energy game night atmosphere for the whole family. The Black Pack features four pucks along with four White Section tickets for $80, perfect for fans looking to take home a unique piece of the action. The White Pack includes four Thunderbirds t-shirts and four White Section tickets for $88, allowing families to gear up and show their team pride together. Fans interested in purchasing a Family 4 Pack can contact Vice President of Business Operations Joe Cangelosi by phone at (336) 413-3794, or by email at jcangelosi@tcbirds.com, to secure their package and enjoy a memorable night at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena!


The Thunderbirds will be collecting canned goods and non-perishable food items at the game on Saturday, February 28th against the Watertown Wolves. All donations will go to Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina. The Thunderbirds are also asking fans to bring new pillows, in their original packaging, which will be donated to A Bed And A Book to support families in our community. Puck drop for Saturday’s game is scheduled for 6:05pm ET.


Tickets to home games at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena may be purchased online by visiting WSFairgrounds.com, Ticketmaster.com, or by calling the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena Box Office at (336) 727-2236. The Thunderbirds are proud members of the Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL). #FlockTogether