Middle Period Mastery Guides T-Birds Past Bears
AHL Springfield Thunderbirds

Middle Period Mastery Guides T-Birds Past Bears

Published on April 3, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Thunderbirds News Release


Springfield Thunderbirds forward Aleksanteri Kaskimäki reaches for the puck against the Hershey Bears
Springfield Thunderbirds forward Aleksanteri Kaskimäki reaches for the puck against the Hershey Bears
(Springfield Thunderbirds)

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Springfield Thunderbirds (28-29-6-2) used a three-goal second period blitz to help themselves to a 4-2 win over the Hershey Bears (28-29-6-3) on Friday night inside the MassMutual Center.

After withstanding an early push from the visiting Bears, the T-Birds earned the game's first power play with a chance to change the tides. Instead, shorthanded specialist Grant Cruikshank picked Springfield's pocket deep in the T-Birds zone and snapped a forehander through Vadim Zherenko at 11:22 to stun the home crowd and give Hershey the 1-0 lead. The tally was Cruikshank's AHL-leading fifth shorthanded goal of the year.

From there, Hershey netminder Mitch Gibson stole the show, making 12 first period saves, including point-blank denials on Hugh McGing, Dillon Dube, and Thomas Bordeleau.

The tipping point came 1:53 into the second when two consecutive Springfield slashing infractions set the stage for a 60-second two-man advantage for the Bears. Even after utilizing their timeout, the Bears could not solve the confident Springfield unit, and the 1-0 score remained after the T-Birds killed both penalties. At 6:57 of the period, Akil Thomas finally broke the ice behind Gibson, tipping a punch shot from Michael Buchinger into the twine, tying the game, 1-1.

Then Springfield's power play, stuck in an 0-for-23 funk, snapped out of its slumber in a huge way. Alek Kaskimaki patiently gathered in a puck deep in zone and chipped a forehand over a sprawled Gibson at 10:22 to give the T-Birds their first lead, 2-1. Veteran linemates Chris Wagner and Dillon Dube garned the assists.

Bordeleau followed that up at 14:54 with a perfect one-time snapper over Gibson's blocker off a cross-crease setup by Zach Dean. Springfield carried that 3-1 lead to intermission following a fourth succesful penalty kill in the period.

Both teams did not lack in the shot department in the third, but it took until the 12:00 mark for Louie Belpedio to finally get Hershey back on the board as he pushed a second-chance shot past a screened Zherenko to cut the margin to 3-2.

However, the scuffling visitors could not find another one against the confident Springfield goaltender, and Hunter Skinner closed the proceedings with an empty-netter with just 22 seconds to go. Zherenko's third straight win came on a night where the veteran backstop denied 31 of 33 attempts for his 50th career win for the T-Birds.

By virtue of their win and Lehigh Valley's loss in regulation, the T-Birds now sit in sixth place in the Atlantic Division alone, climbing to within one point of the Bears in the process. Springfield's magic number to clinch a Calder Cup playoff berth now rests at 11. That number dwindles for every point the T-Birds earn in the standings, as well as every point Lehigh Valley fails to earn.

The T-Birds stay on home ice for a 6:05 p.m. matchup on Saturday against their former captain Matthew Peca and the Syracuse Crunch.

Single-game tickets and ticket memberships for all remaining games in the Thunderbirds' 2025-26 season are available now - fans can order now by visiting www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com or by calling (413) 739-GOAL (4625).

Check out the Springfield Thunderbirds Statistics

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Images from this story

Springfield Thunderbirds forward Aleksanteri Kaskimäki reaches for the puck against the Hershey Bears
Springfield Thunderbirds forward Aleksanteri Kaskimäki reaches for the puck against the Hershey Bears
   



American Hockey League Stories from April 3, 2026


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