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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MOLINE, Ill. – The Birmingham Bulls split another weekend series, but this time, they battled back in the second half of the set to secure a win that could help them get back on track.

After taking a 6-2 loss in their Friday, Feb. 7 meeting, the Bulls shut out the Quad City Storm 2-0 on Saturday, Feb. 8 at Vibrant Arena at The MARK to secure a crucial road victory.

In their first meeting on Friday, Birmingham fell behind just 52 seconds into the game off a goal from Tyler Vanuden. That gap increased to 3-0 before the end of the period thanks to a power play goal with 7:24 remaining in the first and a third goal with just 3:29 left in the period.

Quad City tacked on a fourth goal just 3:11 into the second period before the Bulls could respond. Trevor Thurston took passes from Tony Apetagon and Ben Higgins to score his fourth goal of the season and make it a 4-1 game with 10:21 remaining in the second.

After Birmingham held the Storm scoreless for the next stretch of the game, it got a golden power play chance with 3:42 remaining in the second. Carson Rose capitalized 54 seconds into the power play with his 19th goal of the season off an assist from Arkhip Ledziankou to make the score 4-2.

However, Quad City slammed the door shut with two goals in the final 1:31 of the period, including the capper with just one second remaining until the intermission which sealed the 6-2 win.

After surrendering a flurry of goals to start Friday’s game, the Bulls defense was much more disciplined on Saturday night. Birmingham killed off two penalties in the opening period-and-a-half of play and kept the game tied at 0-0 through the 12:54 mark of the second.

That was when Filimon Ledziankou took advantage of passes from Rose and MacGregor Sinclair to score the game’s opening goal and put the Bulls up 1-0 with 7:05 left in the period.

Birmingham had to kill off another pair of penalties in the opening eight minutes of the third, but the defense continued to hold strong. However, after outshooting the Storm 15-5 in the second period, that deficit was tighter in the final 20 minutes.

The Bulls couldn’t capitalize on any of their five power play opportunities either, including a five-minute major off a blindside check from Quad City’s Artyom Zhuk with 12:26 remaining which earned him a one-game suspension.

However, the Storm couldn’t find the back of the net either, even after pulling their goaltender late in the game. As a result, Filimon Ledziankou sealed the win with an empty net goal with 1:05 remaining.

Birmingham goaltender Austin Lotz was named the First Star for securing 19 saves and a shutout while Filimon Ledzinakou took the Second Star for his two-goal night.

The Bulls are tied for sixth place in the SPHL standings with the Macon Mayhem, who also have 37 points. While Birmingham has three games in hand over Macon, the gap to the bottom is tightening as the Bulls are just one point above Quad City and the playoff cutline of eighth place.

Birmingham will look to continue its winning ways with three home games over the long weekend. The Bulls will first face the Pensacola Ice Flyers on Friday, Feb. 14 and Saturday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. before facing the rival Huntsville Havoc on Monday, Feb. 17 at 4 p.m. for a special Presidents Day matinee. All games will be at the Pelham Civic Complex and Ice Arena with tickets available at the PCC box office and online on Ticketmaster.