In a game where neither team could get a cushion, the Knoxville Ice Bears escaped with a 5-3 victory over the Bloomington Thunder.

Knoxville gained the winning advantage on a goal by Peter Neal 12:59 into the third period and hung on until final buzzer.

The Ice Bears were led by Neal, who racked up one goal.

Knoxville found the back of the net more times than it usually has this season. This season, the Ice Bears average 2.7 goals per contest. Knoxville relied on a core group of players for most of its offense, as Eric Satim, Jeremy Klaver and Brady Vandenberk took 21 of the team's 41 shots. The defense for the Ice Bears played an important role offensively, racking up 19 shots on goal.

Knoxville also got points from Jon Higgins, who also tallied one goal and one assist and Francis Drolet, who also registered one goal and one assist to lead the team in points. Knoxville also had goals scored by Mark Van Vliet and David Segal, who each put in one. Other players who recorded assists for Knoxville were Lucas Chavira-Schramm, Brad Pawlowski, Andrew Dovey, and Berkley Scott, who each chipped in one.

Bloomington put up an impenetrable defensive front on the penalty kill, and did not allow Knoxville to score on any of its seven power plays. The 28 shots that the Thunder put on net surpassed Bloomington's average of 19.7 shots per game this season.

The Thunder were led by Bobby Watson, who finished with one goal and one assist. Watson scored on the power play 15:10 into the first period to make the score 3-1 Bloomington. Bloomington had gotten the advantage when the Ice Bears' Corey Fulton was sent off for boarding. Marcus Mitchell provided the assist. Others who scored for Bloomington included Harry Mahesh and Nic Polaski, who scored one goal each. In addition, Bloomington received assists from Curtis Megginson, Reid MacLeod, Travis Granbois, and Jay Pietrasiak, who contributed one a piece.

Bryan Hince made 25 saves for Knoxville on 28 shots. The Ice Bears ended with 16 minutes in penalty time with three minors and two majors. BJ OBrien recorded 36 saves for the Thunder. Bloomington totaled 17 minutes in penalty time with six minors and one major and went 3-for-2 on the power play.