The Springfield Thunderbirds (14-20-4-2) fired a season-high 40 shots on the net of the Belleville Senators (19-18-7-0) but could not find a goal, dropping a hard-fought 1-0 decision before a sellout crowd on Saturday night inside the MassMutual Center.
The T-Birds picked up where they left off from a night ago in the first period, keeping much of the territorial advantage. However, Belleville netminder Leevi Merilainen had answers to each of Springfield’s 16 first-period attempts on net, while the Senator penalty kill successfully dispatched two T-Birds power plays.
At the other end, the Senators did not get the quantity of shots, but they were opportunistic at 11:17 as Jan Jenik got the puck on his stick from the low slot and lifted a shot over Georgi Romanov on the blocker side, giving Belleville the 1-0 lead into the intermission break.
After they saw Belleville’s penalty kill go 2-for-2 in the first, the T-Birds followed suit in the second, dispatching back-to-back Senator power plays. Lamentably for the T-Birds, their best opportunity came when Hugh McGing and Zach Dean had a shorthanded 2-on-0, but they never could get a shot directed on Merilainen’s net, and Springfield was forced to head to the final period down 1-0. Romanov, meanwhile, did his job in turning aside 15 Belleville shots to keep his team within a single goal.
Belleville spent much of the final period defending in their own zone, and the Senators also went shorthanded twice more, but Merilainen continued to throw up a force field in front of the net. With Romanov at the bench for an extra skater, Merilainen and the Sens’ defense successfully navigated the late-game turbulence, handing the T-Birds just their second shutout defeat of the season.
The T-Birds return to home ice for the final two games of the homestand on Friday, Jan. 30 and Saturday, Jan. 31 against Lehigh Valley and Hartford, respectively.
