Thunderbirds set for battle against Bobcats

WYTHEVILLE, VA. –The Twin City Thunderbirds conclude a five-game road trip to open the 2026-2027 season tonight against the Blue Ridge Bobcats at Hitachi Energy Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00pm ET.

Twin City (3-1-0) enters tonight’s matchup in 3rd place in the FPHL’s Atlantic Division with six points through four games. The Thunderbirds swept the Danbury Hat Tricks to open the season before splitting last weekend’s series against the Monroe Moccasins. Zach Papapetros and Dominic Dumas scored in the 3rd period to erase a 3-1 deficit in Friday’s 4-3 shootout victory. Ayvin Eidsness stopped fifty-three of fifty-six shots, and Captain Zach White scored the deciding goal in the shootout. White followed with two goals and two assists in Saturday’s 7-4 loss. After Twin City fell behind 5-1, powerplay goals from Jack Johansen and Dumas cut the deficit to two before White pulled the Thunderbirds within one at 15:12 of the 3rd period. White leads Twin City with four goals and eight assists for twelve points. Dumas has scored in each of the first four games, and Jacob Schnapp collected a goal and four assists in the two games at Monroe. The Thunderbirds have scored on the powerplay in every game, converting eight of twenty-two opportunities (36.4%).

Blue Ridge (5-0-1) sits in 2nd place in the Atlantic Division with eleven points through six games, five points ahead of Twin City. The Bobcats won their first five games and have scored twenty-five goals while allowing thirteen. Blue Ridge is 2-0-0 at Hitachi Energy Arena after sweeping the Columbus River Dragons on opening weekend. In the second game of that series, Nikolai Dulak and Patriks Marcinkevics scored shorthanded goals fourteen seconds apart in a 3-2 win. The Bobcats split last weekend’s series against the Minnesota Northern Lights. Mason Plante and Kye Levy scored in Friday’s 2-1 win, with Max Macchioni making twenty-seven saves. James Tepper, Mason Proskin, and Demid Podrezov scored in Saturday’s rematch as Blue Ridge built a 3-1 lead in the 3rd period. Minnesota tied the game on the powerplay with just over two minutes left in regulation and won 4-3 in overtime. Daniel Antal made thirty-two saves in the loss. Marcinkevics leads the Bobcats with twelve points in four games, including four points in the season opener against Columbus. Vladislav Vlasov has four goals and seven assists for eleven points in six games.

Single game tickets for all Twin City Thunderbirds regular season home games at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena are on sale now. Tickets may be purchased online at tcbirds.com, wsfairgrounds.com, ticketmaster.com, or by calling the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Arena Box Office at (336) 774-8880. For Season Ticket and Group Ticket information, contact Holli Carmin at (336) 774-8882 or hcarmin@tcbirds.hockey.