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AHL Springfield Thunderbirds

Gutsy Late Penalty Kill Squeezes T-Birds Past Isles

December 30, 2022 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Thunderbirds News Release


SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Springfield Thunderbirds (13-13-1-4) pulled off a gutsy 5-on-3 penalty kill in the closing minutes of a one-goal game, paving the way to a 6-3 win over the Bridgeport Islanders (14-11-5-1) on Friday night inside the MassMutual Center.

Springfield has been in a habit of giving up the opening goal of late, and the Islanders continued this trend at 10:07 of the first when Cole Bardreau snapped a long shot through the blocker side of Vadim Zherenko, giving Bridgeport the 1-0 lead.

Like Wednesday night, though, Springfield's response would be swift and forceful. At 14:23, Jake Neighbours and Will Bitten occupied time in the offensive zone with a cycling spell along the left wing. While that was occurring, Drew Callin hopped off the bench with fresh legs, took the puck from Bitten behind the net, and jammed a backhand wrap-around off of Ken Appleby and into the twine, tying the score, 1-1.

2:59 later, Bitten made a crafty play from his own zone, faking as if he was going to just carry the puck back behind his net to set up a line change. Instead, he fired a two-line pass to a streaking Hugh McGing, who broke in alone and tucked a forehander under Appleby's legs to give Springfield a 2-1 lead into the intermission.

The T-Birds' leading goal scorer received a fortuitous bounce to add to the lead at 3:29 of the second, as Nikita Alexandrov saw a puck bounce right at his feet off a shot by Austin Osmanski. Alexandrov stuffed home his sixth goal in just five games against the Islanders to extend the cushion to 3-1. The assist marked Osmanski's first AHL point.

Springfield entered the game having killed off 23 straight opponent power plays. After a successful kill earlier in the game brought the streak to 24 in a row, Bridgeport finally ended the run of success when Arnaud Durandeau took a centering pass from Chris Terry and beat Zherenko on the blocker side to make it 3-2 with 4:08 to go in the second.

Once again, the Thunderbirds retaliated. After Zherenko and the defense withstood a net-mouth scramble near the blue paint, Neighbours escaped the other way in a 3-on-2. The rookie calmly walked into the right circle and squeezed a wrist shot through Appleby to send Springfield to a 4-2 advantage at 17:50 of the period.

The Islanders started the third on a man advantage, and once again, the unit delivered, as Otto Koivula one-touched a feed past Zherenko just 58 seconds into the third. That tipped the momentum to the Islanders, who rattled off 17 shots in the final 20 minutes. However, Zherenko slammed the door shut.

The game's outcome hinged on a pair of back-to-back Springfield penalties, giving Bridgeport a 5-on-3 for 1:43. Zherenko and the trio of skaters in front of him showed exemplary poise, denying the Isles' attempts from all angles, surviving the full time and getting back to even strength. After the Isles took a penalty themselves, with Appleby on the bench, Alexandrov's second of the night and seventh in his last six games against Bridgeport made it 5-3 with just 56 seconds to play.

Greg Printz would add an empty-netter of his own to get Springfield its 13th goal over the last two victories. Zherenko's stellar night concluded with the rookie stopping 41 of 44 shots.

The T-Birds look for a third straight win this week on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in Hartford against the Wolf Pack.

Thunderbirds fans can reserve their seats for the 2022-23 season and lock in the best prices and member benefits by calling (413) 739-GOAL (4625) or visiting www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.

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