HARTFORD – The Springfield Thunderbirds secured two crucial points as they fended off the Hartford Wolf Pack 6-3 to stay afloat in the playoff hunt in a game at the XL Center Saturday.
Jakub Vrana and Hugh McGing were among the many T-Bird players with multi-point performances.
“The guys played well,” interim Thunderbirds coach Dan Tkaczuk said. “Tonight, they had the resolve, and it was nice to see that even though we surrendered a three-goal lead, but even (then) they still stuck with the game plan and executed to the end, and everybody contributed.”
Springfield wasted no time jumping out to an explosive 3-0 lead behind a reinvigorated offense and a cohesive defensive unit.
The Thunderbirds quickly found the lead halfway through the first period. Hartford’s Matt Rempe was called for boarding, giving the Thunderbirds an early opportunity.
Jakub Vrana used that chance.
Over the final seconds of the power play, Joseph Duzak maintained the puck while behind the Hartford net. He then slipped a quick pass to McGing near the left-side boards. McGing quickly sent the puck to Vrana, who emerged in the right slot and one-timed his shot.
“It’s simple: when you come out ready to play, you get rewarded,” Thunderbirds captain Matthew Peca said. “We played tonight with a little bit of urgency.
“It’s always nice to score anytime, but especially when your power play is struggling, we felt like we’ve had a lot of good chances, and tonight we were a little more conscious of what we wanted to do. Which resulted in being a little sharper, a little more simple.”
Springfield’s offense was only getting started.
Just over a minute later, Ryan Suzuki raced through the neutral zone and intercepted a loose puck. He outpaced two Hartford defenders, before sending a quick wrister by the Wolf Pack netminder’s elbow stick side to extend Springfield’s lead.
“We knew about the hole we created that’s in the standings lately,” Peca said. “We didn’t want to go into the break and have nothing to show for this weekend. So we knew we had nothing to save it for, and that’s the style we need to play every night.”
During the closing minutes of the opening frame, Mikhail Abramov zipped a quick pass to Vrana, who was already deep in the neutral zone. Once the puck arrived, Vrana lulled Dylan Garand out of his net right to the tip of his crease. Vrana fired the wrister, which pushed the T-Birds lead to 3-0 at 6:01.
Hartford didn’t stay down for long as Jake Leschyshyn and Alex Belize led an offensive charge deep into the Springfield zone. While Thunderbirds netminder Malcom Subban made the initial save on a Leschyshyn attempt, Belizle found the rebound and squeezed it through Subban’s pads to put the Wolf Pack on the board as the first period came to a close.
That goal led Hartford to a newly found momentum in the second frame.
The Wolf Pack wasted no time in swarming the offensive zone as Nikolas Brouillard attempted to set up a play, with Connor Mackey near the bottom of the left point. Mackey fired a shot, but Subban made the kick save as the puck went astray.
Brett Berard then fended off Zachary Bolduc before he sent a quick pass to the net. The puck got lost in transition until Ryder Korczak found it and tossed it to Brandon Scanlin, who rushed into the right slot. He then went to a knee, maintaining control of the puck before he sent the one-timer back glove side, getting the Wolf Pack within one as the score.
Just minutes later Hartford evened out the score when Turner Elson slipped a pass to Kroczak. While he struggled to break free from Dylan Coghlan, he still managed to get a shot off. Subban snagged the attempt, but it slipped out of his glove. Rempe raced in and jammed the shot into the back of the net.
The Thunderbirds regained their lead in the latter half of the second period, though when they took a 4-3 lead courtesy of Zach Dean. Peca added an insurance goal during the third period as the T-Birds took a commanding 5-3 lead.
Will Bitten closed out the T-Birds victory with an empty netter as they extended their lead to 6-3.
“I mean, when you’re at this point in the season, every point matters,” said Dean. “So we’re just going into every game now just looking to get points and keep climbing in the standings.”
The T-Birds return to the ice as they host the Hershey Bears on Feb 10 as part of their annual Ice-O-Tops night promotion. The puck drop is set for 7:05 P.M.
