T-Birds Throttle Phantoms & Clinch Calder Cup Playoff Berth
AHL Springfield Thunderbirds

T-Birds Throttle Phantoms & Clinch Calder Cup Playoff Berth

Published on April 15, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Thunderbirds News Release


SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Springfield Thunderbirds (31-31-6-2) restored their offensive rhythm to rout the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (30-34-3-3) on Wednesday night inside the MassMutual Center, punching their ticket to the Calder Cup Playoffs in the process.

After getting shutout in Providence on Sunday, the Springfield offense quickly rediscovered its form just 3:51 into action on Wednesday as Otto Stenberg dropped a shot right into the wheelhouse of Akil Thomas, who snapped a try past Aleksei Kolosov and giving Springfield the 1-0 advantage.

Vadim Zherenko drew the net for the pivotal contest and answered the bell with flying colors, making a breakaway save on Oscar Eklind and getting enough of a close-in effort from Tucker Robertson to deflect it off the post for two of his eight first-period stops.

After the Phantoms pieced together a successful penalty kill with over a minute left in the period, the visitors thought they had momentum heading into the intermission, but Dylan Peterson changed that notion as he received a diagonal pass from Colin Ralph in the right circle and beat Kolosov over the blocker at 18:49 to give the T-Birds the 2-0 lead heading into intermission. Ralph's helper was his first professional point.

The T-Birds have been consistent performers in the middle stanza under Steve Ott to the tune of a 33-15 goal margin entering play, and Michael Buchinger added to that dazzling differential when he uncorked a wrister through Kolosov just 43 seconds into the second, making it a 3-0 game, a margin that remained thanks to eight more Zherenko stops and two Springfield penalty kills in the period.

The T-Birds were further galvanized late in the second when Hugh McGing stood up in defense of his teammate Zach Dean following a boarding penalty to drop the mitts with the much bigger Jack Berglund.

Springfield came out of the dressing room for the third period and left no doubt of their playoff future. Dillon Dube cashed in on a perfect 2-on-1 pass from Chris Wagner to make it 4-0 just 47 seconds into the period.

While Noah Powell would get the Phantoms on the board at 2:02 to make it 4-1, it would be nothing but a blip on the radar as Dube wired home a one-timer at 2:54 to restore the four-goal cushion.

2:56 later, Alek Kaskimaki joined in on the fun with his top-line compatriots, cleaning up a rebound at the blue paint to make it 6-1 at 5:50.

Sensing their fate, the Phantoms replaced Kolosov with backup netminder Carson Bjarnason, but the onslaught continued when Thomas wired home a one-time bid for his second of the evening at 6:22.

By the time the dust settled, Springfield's offense saw 20 points on the scoresheet courtesy of 10 different skaters, while Zherenko picked up his 17th win of the season with a sturdy 24-save effort.

While the T-Birds' playoff berth has been clinched, seeding is still in play, as Springfield could finish as high as fourth in the division standings or as low as sixth. They enter the weekend one point behind Hershey for the 5-seed and four points behind Bridgeport for the 4-seed, with all teams playing two more games to close the regular season.

The T-Birds' regular season concludes with a home-and-home series with their Braman I-91 rivals, the Hartford Wolf Pack. The two teams face off at PeoplesBank Arena on Friday at 7:00 before reconvening at 6:05 p.m. on Saturday night at the Thunderdome.

Thunderbirds' Pay As We Play playoff plans are available now for no upfront cost. In addition, 2026-27 season tickets 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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American Hockey League Stories from April 15, 2026


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