SPRINGFIELD – The Springfield Thunderbirds (16-11-3-1) put up 36 shots but could only muster one goal in a 2-1 loss at the hands of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (17-12-3-0) on Friday night at the MassMutual Center.
The Springfield lineup looked slightly different for the home team than in the past few games, with Nathan Walker, Matthew Kessel, and Jakub Vrana getting the call-up to St. Louis over the past week.
In turn, the T-Birds inserted Nikita Alexandrov and MacKenzie MacEachern back in the lineup for the game after they were assigned back to Springfield. The game marked MacEachern’s first contest back in Springfield since December 13th and Alexandrov’s first AHL game of the season.
In the early stages, Alexandrov had the first prime scoring chance for the T-Birds. After catching a pass, the winger used his strength to fight off a Penguins defender and drove hard to the net down the right wing, managing to go backhand to forehand for the shot on Blomqvist.
However, the Penguin netminder was up to the task and made the stop on Alexandrov’s crafty move.
Vinnie Hinostroza got the Penguins on the board first off a give-and-go passing play with defenseman Jack Rathbone to give his team a 1-0 lead at 11:05 of the first. Hinostroza’s tally would be the only goal in the first period, with both teams even in shots at 11 apiece going into the first intermission.
The Penguins successfully added to their lead to make it 2-0 at the 9:27 mark of the period. Zherenko fought off Peter Abbandonato’s attempt on an odd-man rush, but the puck squeezed through the goalie’s arm and bounced into the back of the net before he could recover.
Springfield began the third period with a purpose, and after a giveaway just 30 seconds into the stanza, Matthew Peca spotted Adam Gaudette at the net front, and the T-Birds’ leading goal scorer one-touched the pass through Blomqvist’s legs to cut the lead to 2-1. It was Gaudette’s 17th goal of the season, and the assist for Peca marked his 200th in the AHL.
Despite outshooting the Penguins 13-7 in the final 20 minutes, the T-Birds could not find an equalizer, as Blomqvist finished the night with 35 stops.
The T-Birds are back on home ice tomorrow night to complete their seven-game homestand against the Providence Bruins in front of a sold-out MassMutual Center crowd. The puck drop is set for inside the Thunderdome at 7:05 p.m.
