SPRINGFIELD – Behind a game-high 38 saves from netminder Colten Ellis, the Springfield Thunderbirds defeated the Iowa Wild 4-2 in front of a sellout crowd of 6,793 fans at the MassMutual Center on Saturday night.
“Ellis has been one of the top goalies in the league all year,” Thunderbirds coach Steve Konowalchuk said. “He gives us a chance to win every time he’s out there.”
Springfield also recorded multiple second-period goals and a late empty netter to improve its record 32-26-2-4.
Behind the Thunderbirds’ fourth win in 11 games and Hartford’s earlier loss to Providence, their magic number to clinch a postseason berth is now six.
“That’s just it, you want to get in a rhythm and get back into playing our brand of hockey,” Matthew Peca said. “We got away from it for a bit, and that’s not good during this time of the year.
“But we’re definitely happy with the end result of this one.”
With eight regular-season games left, which include five on the road, every outcome counts moving forward.
Springfield remains in the sixth and final spot in the Atlantic Division with 70 points – just one point behind Lehigh Valley for fifth place.
“I think the message remains the same,” Konowalchuk said. “It’s how we play and how hard we play. Our team has played hard the last two games, and that’s playoff-style hockey.
“You don’t want to let your standards slip. So I think we’ll keep building off of our effort and blocked shots there at the end, where Nikita Alexandrov blocked that last shot.
“It’s things like that over the last two games where I’m proud of our group. Over the last two games, it feels good for the coach to watch his guys battle for each other like that.”
Despite 24 saves from netminder Samuel Hlavaj, Iowa moved to 22-35-5-1, as the Wild remain winless in four games against the Thunderbirds in team history.
Despite 13 unsuccessful shots and two power-play attempts, both sides remained scoreless through the opening 12 minutes of action.
But that statistic didn’t last as Alexandrov forced a loose puck along Springfield’s left red faceoff circle and took off. As the center neared the opposing net, he attempted to score his 20th-season goal on the breakaway.
Hlavaj countered with one of his four first-period saves. The momentum was shortlived, though, as Tanner Dickinson was positioned along the left crease to send home the rebounder.
The Thunderbirds briefly moved ahead behind Dickinson’s sixth-season goal on a feed from Alexandrov with 7:10 left in the frame.
After Ellis posted his third season shutout on Friday, the Wild ensured history didn’t repeat itself as they earned a 5-on-3 opportunity.
And the road team didn’t miss their opportunity, as Travis Boyd connected with Liam Öhgren with 2:02 left on the clock. Ben Jones earned his 22nd assist on the secondary.
Both teams entered the first intermission even at 1-1. Iowa outshot Springfield 19-5 and scored on one of the four combined power-play attempts.
Entering the second period of Saturday’s game, the Thunderbirds were 0-for-5 on the man advantage against one of the worst penalty-killing teams in the league.
But not for long.
Iowa was called for a delay-of-game penalty to ensure the Thunderbirds their second evening attempt during the 27th minute.
The opportunity was seized, as Alexandrov located Peca between double coverage from the point.
Peca then sent home a one-timer over Hlavaj’s left shoulder to move Springfield ahead 2-1 with 12:29 left in the second. Peca recorded his team-leading 29th goal, while Alexandrov posted his second of three evening assists.
“It felt great,” said Peca of his team snapping its man-advantage drought. “I feel like our power play has gone on several different stretches. Regardless if you score, you want to go into games having momentum from the power play.
“If that doesn’t happen, you return to the drawing board. But Iowa surprised us a little bit with some different stuff, so we adjusted mid-game and did what we could.”
Moments into the second period, Springfield’s Dylan Peterson collided with the boards behind the opposing net. After a brief timeout, Peterson exited the ice under his own recognizance.
But it seemed it wasn’t too significant, as the forward later scored his 13th-season goal through traffic to double the Thunderbirds cushion. Hugh McGing earned his 20th assist on the drive.
“It’s great to see a young player, but especially a rookie, kind of dig into his role,” Peca said. “It feels like wherever (Peterson) is, he goes out there and plays the right way.”
The momentum was shortlived, though, as Iowa earned its fifth power-play attempt. Öhgren then recorded his second evening goal to cut the Wild’s deficit in half with 4:11 left in the second.
Through 40 minutes of action, Springfield remained ahead of Iowa 3-2 despite being outshot 28-18.
Mackenzie MacEachern sealed the outcome with an empty-netter in the final minute of regulation for the Thunderbirds.
The goal marked MacEachern’s 11th, while Peca and Alexandrov earned their second and third respective evening points on the drive.
Springfield will conclude its three-in-three weekend on Sunday afternoon as they begin a four-game road trip in Providence against the Bruins from the Amica Mutual Pavillion at 3:05 p.m.
“We have to do what we’ve been doing and go out and play with energy,” Konowalchuk said. “We have to play to complete and play with passion.
“And puck management is a big part of it.”
