SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The Springfield Thunderbirds (31-26-2-4) bounced back to begin a three-game weekend with a 4-0 shutout win over the Iowa Wild (22-34-5-1) on Friday night in the first of a two-game series between the clubs inside a sold-out MassMutual Center.
Springfield continued to battle their offensive struggles in the opening period, managing just five shots on the net of Iowa goalie Dylan Ferguson. The closest chance came on a 3-on-2 rush for the T-Birds’ top line.
But MacKenzie MacEachern could not guide a Matthew Pecapass through Ferguson at the edge of the blue paint.
At the other end, Colten Ellis was stellar in a busy opening period, making 11 saves, including a key shorthanded stick save off of Ben Jones. Despite their league-worst penalty kill stats entering the night, the Wild went 2-for-2 with a man down in the opening period.
The game saw a pivotal moment at 8:48 of the third when Carson Lambos injured Matt Luff on a crunching check into the boards. Hunter Skinner arrived to stand up for Luff, dropping the mitts with Lambos.
Following their fighting majors, the T-Birds took advantage of the very next puck drop.
The T-Birds finally ended their 11-period even-strength goal drought at 8:52 of the second with a simple play design as a Samuel Johannesson point shot glanced off the stick of Dylan Peterson before scooting past Ferguson.
Peterson’s 12th goal of the season came in his first game back after missing 11 straight contests with an injury.
Less than two minutes later, Springfield’s offense added on as Peca slipped a pass near the paint, and Corey Andonovskifound MacEachern on the back post for a tap-in at 10:50, making it 2-0.
Ferguson was injured trying to make the save and would be replaced in the Iowa net by Samuel Hlavaj.
While Springfield could not challenge Hlavaj much in the closing half of the second, Hugh McGing added to the lead 4:36 into the third, one-touching a perfect snapper into the top shelf off a slick cross-ice feed from Peterson.
Ten minutes later, Peca returned to the goal column with his 28th of the year, extending his career-high on a one-time setup from Skinner and MacEachern at 14:36.
Ellis held the fort down the rest of the way, finishing his night with double-digit saves in each frame en route to his third shutout of the season. Springfield’s penalty kill buoyed Ellis all evening, going 5-for-5 in fending off the Iowa man advantage.
Thanks to their victory, the T-Birds’ magic number to clinch a Calder Cup playoff spot has fallen to 10. The regulation win also ensured that the T-Birds held the tiebreaker against the Wolf Pack if the teams finished with the exact point total.
The T-Birds and Wild complete their four-game season series on Saturday night with another slated 7:05 p.m. puck drop at the Thunderdome.
