SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The Springfield Thunderbirds (13-12-2-1) began their homestand on the right foot with a demonstrative 5-2 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack (13-12-2-1) on Friday night inside a sold-out MassMutual Center.
Springfield’s fan favorite got the Thunderdome volume level elevated just 2:10 into the contest as Sam Bitten crashed the net in front of Hartford goaltender Dyland Garand, cleaning up a rebound from a Hunter Skinner point shot to give the T-Birds the 1-0 lead on Bitten’s first-ever goal on home ice. Dylan Peterson picked up a secondary helper on the tally, his fifth point in as many games against Hartford this season.
T-Birds goalie Vadim Zherenko was the busier of the two masked men in the first period, and for over 19 minutes of play, he was equal to the task, stopping each of the first 13 offerings in the period, and the Springfield penalty kill easily dispatched the only man-up chance in the opening frame.
Despite their efforts, the T-Birds could not keep the lead to the intermission, and Bo Groulx finally cracked Zherenko with a one-timer from the left circle with just 7.1 seconds left in the first to send the game into the deadlocked, 1-1.
The T-Birds had a quick bounce-back in the middle stanza to restore their lead. After a Hartford icing, Bitten won a draw back to Mathias Laferriere in the left circle, who immediately slipped a pass to Matt Kessel in the right circle. The defenseman made no mistake from there, flinging one under the crossbar behind Garand for his second goal in five games and giving Springfield the 2-1 advantage.
Zherenko picked up where he left off in the first, turning the Wolf Pack away with each chance that came his way, including odd-man rush denials on Jake Leschyshyn and Groulx among his best work in the middle stanza. “Big Z” had 23 saves to his credit in leading Springfield to the second intermission with the one-goal lead in tow.
Springfield appeared to have taken a 3-1 lead in the opening half of the third period when a Skinner shot ricocheted off Garand, high into the air, and to the vicinity of Tanner Dickinson, who swatted it over the goal line. However, upon review, the goal was disallowed due to a high stick, and the 2-1 score remained.
The T-Birds kept pressing, though, and when the game shifted to 4-on-4 action, captain Matthew Pecamade it a 3-1 game anyhow with a perfectly placed shot on a 2-on-1 at 8:36 of the third, which eventually would go down as the captain’s team-leading fourth game-winning goal.
Hartford would not go down without a whimper, and Alex Belzile cashed in off a centering pass from Nathan Sucese just 2:15 later to trim the T-Birds lead to 3-2.
The T-Birds got their chance to return fire and did just that when Marcus Sylvegard unleashed a perfect wrister from the right wing under the glove of Garand at 12:55, bringing the margin back to a pair at 4-2. This time, the Wolf Pack had no replies, and Dylan Peterson capped the night with an empty-netter in the final minute to put the finishing touches on the victory.
The T-Birds continue the five-game homestand on Saturday night as they host the Bridgeport Islanders at 7:05 p.m. inside the Thunderdome.
