
T-Birds Head into Holidays with Three-Game Weekend Set
December 19, 2019 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Thunderbirds News Release
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Springfield Thunderbirds (15-14-1-0) wrap up the pre-Christmas portion of their December schedule this weekend with three games in total, beginning on home ice Friday against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (11-15-3-1) at 7:05 p.m. From there, the T-Birds visit the Hershey Bears (14-9-2-3) for a pair of games on Saturday and Sunday at 7:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. respectively inside the Giant Center.
The T-Birds will look to bounce back from a tough finish to their last three-in-three weekend, falling 5-4 in overtime on Saturday and 5-0 on Sunday against the Providence Bruins. Despite the rocky finish to the weekend, Springfield still finds itself right in contention in the tight Atlantic Division race, sitting just two points back of third place and one point back of fourth in the jockeying for playoff positioning.
Springfield and Providence have split the first four games of their 14-game season series, with the T-Birds winning the first two games and Providence taking the last two. Offensively, Owen Tippett continues to pace the T-Birds in a number of statistical categories, including goals (11), points (23), and power play goals (5).
The T-Birds will look to button up defensively, having allowed three or more goals in their last five games after they had been the leading AHL team in goals against per game through the month of November. Despite seeing his goals against average rise over 3.00, Philippe Desrosiers still finds himself among the AHL's league leaders in save percentage at .922.
Springfield will also have a new skater on the forward lines as Ryan Haggerty joins the club after being acquired from the Penguins earlier this week in a trade for Kevin Roy. Haggerty has tallied three goals so far this season after potting a career-high 23 with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton a season ago.
Friday night at the MassMutual Center is another 3-2-1 Friday with the MGM Springfield Pregame Concert Series beginning at 6:00 p.m. It is also Star Wars Night at the Thunderdome with appearances by storm troopers and Darth Vader for pictures on the concourse.
For more ticket information or to become a 2019-20 Springfield Thunderbirds ticket package member, or to purchase single game tickets, call (413) 739-GOAL (4625) or visit www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.
American Hockey League Stories from December 19, 2019
- Tye Felhaber Reassigned to Texas - Texas Stars
- Gustavsson Recalled by Ottawa - Belleville Senators
- Red Wings Recall Calvin Pickard - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Minnesota Wild Reassigns Defenseman Brennan Menell to Iowa - Iowa Wild
- Lehigh Valley Signs Max Willman to PTO - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Jets Claim Eric Comrie off Waivers - Manitoba Moose
- Ian Scott Injury Update - Toronto Marlies
- Admirals to Hand Give out Richard Bobbleheads - Milwaukee Admirals
- Pittis Inducted into Rochester Americans Hall of Fame - Stockton Heat
- Blue Jackets Add Defenseman Gabriel Carlsson on Emergency Recall - Cleveland Monsters
- T-Birds Head into Holidays with Three-Game Weekend Set - Springfield Thunderbirds
- Emil Larmi Reassigned to Wheeling - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Amerks Inducting Domenic Pittis into Hall of Fame on Friday, January 31 - Rochester Americans
- Tampa Bay Lightning Assign Forward Mathieu Joseph to Syracuse Crunch - Syracuse Crunch
- Wild Ousts Heat in a 4-3 Overtime Thriller - Iowa Wild
- Barracuda Comeback Falls Short, Dropped 4-3 by Ontario - San Jose Barracuda
- Moose Defense Lacking in 10-4 Beatdown - Manitoba Moose
- Kirkland Goal Helps Heat Earn Point in Wednesday Tilt - Stockton Heat
- Power Trio Leads Reign past San Jose - Ontario Reign
- Colorado Earns Historic Win in 10-4 Thumping of Manitoba - Colorado Eagles
- Richard, Admirals Skate Past Rampage - San Antonio Rampage
- Richard Scores Twice in Admirals Win - Milwaukee Admirals
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
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