T-Birds' Three-Goal Second, Suffocating Defense Downs Bears
December 16, 2018 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Thunderbirds News Release
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - After falling 5-3 the night before over rival Bridgeport, the Springfield Thunderbirds (14-8-2-3) rode a three-goal second period to a bounce-back 4-1 victory over the Hershey Bears (11-15-0-2) on Sunday afternoon at the MassMutual Center.
Goaltender Sam Montembeault finished with 28 saves in the winning effort to improve to 7-0-1-1 at the MassMutual Center.
The Thunderbirds jumped to the lead behind their vaunted power play. At the 6:09 mark and following a scrum in front of the net, Sebastian Repo tapped the puck home from the blue paint for his fourth goal of the season, giving the T-Birds a 1-0 lead. Dryden Hunt and Blaine Byron both picked up assists on the goal.
At the end of the period, however, the T-Birds trailed the Bears 10-9 in shots and came into the second period with 31 seconds left on a penalty kill after Jonathan Ang was called for hooking with 1:31 to play in the opening period.
4:45 into the second period and while on its third power play of the day, the Thunderbirds again scored a goal from short range, as Anthony Greco took a cross-seam pass from Joel Lowry and fired it home from the right circle, making it 2-0 early in the second. Paul Thompson also drew an assist on the play, which was Springfield's AHL-best 36th power play goal of the campaign.
40 seconds later, Juuso Ikonen put Hershey within a goal with a tally of his own off a net front scramble, cutting Springfield's lead to 2-1. That, however, would be the closest that the Bears would get to tying the score.
Later on, at the 12:53 mark in the period, Greco scored his second goal of the game and 14th of the season. The speedy winger took a subtle handoff from Ryan Horvat at the side of the goal and lifted a wrister under the bar to make it 3-1. Matt Mangene also garnered an assist on the play. Greco's second of the day was also his 10th in his last eight Springfield games.
Six minutes after that, the T-Birds put the final nail in Hershey's coffin when Jake Horton stuffed a backhander over Vanecek's shoulder from the bottom of the right circle to make it 4-1 late in the second. Bobby Farnham picked up the primary assist on the play, while Mangene picked up his second point of the night on the secondary helper. It was Mangene's second straight multiple point effort.
The Thunderbirds put the clamps down defensively in a tight-checking final period, limiting the Bears to just four shots on net in the final 20 minutes to preserve a second straight Sunday win.
The Thunderbirds next look to avenge a 3-0 loss from their first meeting with the Syracuse on Nov. 24 when they host their North division foes on Wednesday night, with puck drop scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Springfield Thunderbirds fans are encouraged to visit www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com to learn more about 2018-19 Thunderbirds Season Ticket Memberships. Packages include a wide range of benefits, including the lowest prices for the 2019 Lexus AHL All-Star Classic presented by MGM Springfield. For more information or to order now, call (413) 739-GOAL (4625) or visit www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.
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American Hockey League Stories from December 16, 2018
- Late Goals Propel Rockford Past Griffins, 2-1 - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Barracuda Roll Past Reign 5-2 - San Jose Barracuda
- Reign Beaten by San Jose - Ontario Reign
- Rampage Ride Power Play Surge to Third Straight Win - San Antonio Rampage
- Flames Recall Kerby Rychel from Stockton; Assign Jon Gillies & Andrew Mangiapane; Remove Mikael Backlund from IR - Stockton Heat
- Roadrunners Catch Chicago Hot, Fall 5-1 to the Wolves - Tucson Roadrunners
- Iowa Stumbles against San Antonio with 5-2 Loss - Iowa Wild
- Penguins Lose 1-0 Game in Bridgeport - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Gibson's 33-save shutout leads Bridgeport to weekend sweep on Sunday - Bridgeport Islanders
- T-Birds' Three-Goal Second, Suffocating Defense Downs Bears - Springfield Thunderbirds
- 'Canes Reassign Three Players to AHL - Charlotte Checkers
- Bears Lose Third Straight, Fall 4-1 in Springfield - Hershey Bears
- Saarela Scores in OT to Push Win Streak to Six - Charlotte Checkers
- Comets Streak Snapped by Checkers in Overtime - Utica Comets
- Game #26 Preview: Tucson at Chicago - Tucson Roadrunners
- Griffins Recall Moore, Sign Spezia to PTO - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Sabres Recall Guhle from Rochester - Rochester Americans
- Burgdoerfer, Elliott Reassigned to Belleville - Belleville Senators
- American Hockey League Announces Suspensions - AHL
- Thunderbirds Sign F Matt Marcinew to PTO - Springfield Thunderbirds
- Game Preview: Bears at Thunderbirds, 3:05 p.m. - Hershey Bears
- 'Cuda Fall 4-3 in Shootout, Extend Point Streak to Nine - San Jose Barracuda
- Hogs Fors Overtime, Notch Point in Loss to Texas - Rockford IceHogs
- Gulls Rally Again, Win in Shootout - San Diego Gulls
- IceHogs Release Forward Fejes from PTO - Rockford IceHogs
- Reign Falls in OT - Ontario Reign
- Sabres Recall Matt Hunwick - Rochester Americans
- O'Connor Buries OT Winner to Give Colorado 4-3 Victory over Reign - Colorado Eagles
- Roadrunners Come up Short in 4-2 Loss to Chicago - Tucson Roadrunners
- Stockton Offense Tripped up in 1-0 Loss to Bakersfield - Stockton Heat
- Toronto Handles Moose 5-1 - Manitoba Moose
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