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AHL Springfield Thunderbirds

T-Birds Throttle Wild to Sweep Weekend Set

February 1, 2025 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Thunderbirds News Release


Springfield Thunderbirds'Samuel Johannesson, Samuel Johannesson, and Leo Loof on game night
Springfield Thunderbirds'Samuel Johannesson, Samuel Johannesson, and Leo Loof on game night
(Springfield Thunderbirds)

DES MOINES, IA - The Springfield Thunderbirds (21-17-2-2) got points from 14 of their 18 skaters in a 7-2 drubbing of the Iowa Wild (14-26-2-1) on Saturday night inside Wells Fargo Arena.

The T-Birds wasted little time jumping in front for a second straight night, as Simon Robertsson and Hugh McGing capped a 2-on-0 with McGing cashing in on a one-timer past Jesper Wallstedt just 1:22 into action. Otto Stenberg also picked up an assist as all three players on the line broke point droughts of three or four games.

Sam Bitten, playing in the building his brother Will called home for three seasons, joined the fun at 5:47 with a perfect bar-down wrister from the right circle to push the lead to 2-0 off setups from Samuel Johannesson and Leo Loof. Johannesson has now registered a point in five of his last six games.

Vadim Zherenko drew the starting assignment in net and held his own with 16 stops in the opening period. Johannesson provided a helping hand after Zherenko made a mini-breakaway save on Hunter Haight, and the young blueliner successfully kept Mikey Milne from cashing in on a rebound to keep the score deadlocked.

Iowa finally would break through on its 16th shot of the period as Travis Boyd crashed the far post to tap home a 2-on-1 pass from Matthew Sop to get the Wild deficit down to 2-1 heading into the first intermission.

There were more parallels from Friday's game early in the second period, as McGing unleashed a perfect shot under the crossbar at 2:23, beating Wallstedt for his second of the evening and restoring the two-goal lead, 3-1.

Iowa put together their best push of the night over the next five minutes, culminating in a tally by Luke Toporowski to cut the margin back to a single goal, 3-2, at 7:26.

Just as it appeared the Wild would change the tide of the game, the T-Birds had other plans as Nikita Alexandrov drove the net front from the right circle and beat Wallstedt to the near post to make it 4-2 just 17 seconds after the Toporowski goal.

The Springfield attack poured it on from there. Michael Buchinger announced his presence at 8:49, jumping into a play as a trailer before snapping a wrister past Wallstedt to make it 5-2 off a cross-ice setup from Matthew Peca.

Another potential momentum shift came at 13:39 of the second when Dylan Peterson barreled in on net, taking a shot on Wallstedt before colliding with the Iowa netminder. Peterson was given a five-minute charging major, setting the stage for the Wild power play to try to climb back into the game. Wallstedt was forced to leave the game as Samuel Hlavaj came on in relief.

Instead of the moment sparking the home team, the T-Birds only further added to their lead when Peca intercepted a pass in the neutral zone, skated into the zone on the right wing, and snapped another perfect shot upstairs past Hlavaj for his team-leading 16th goal, making it a 6-2 game heading into the third.

The Wild had no answers for Zherenko in the third, despite Iowa throwing 16 pucks on the T-Birds net and 50 total by the night's conclusion. The third-year goalie finished with a season-high 48 stops to earn the win, and Alek Kaskimaki capped off the offensive onslaught with his second goal in two nights at 17:12 of the third to round out the scoring.

Dalibor Dvorsky will be in action on Sunday and Monday at the AHL All-Star Classic presented by Spotlight 29 Casino in Palm Springs, California. The rookie star will first participate in the AHL All-Star Skills Competition presented by Silvercrest on Sunday, Feb. 2 (9:00 p.m. ET). Then, on Monday, Feb. 3, Dvorsky and the Atlantic Division will look to take home the 3-on-3 crown in the 2025 AHL All-Star Challenge presented by Spotlight 29 Casino at 9:00 p.m. ET. Both events can be seen on NHL Network and AHLTV powered by FloHockey.

Springfield next takes to the ice on Friday, Feb. 7 to begin a home-and-home set against the Providence Bruins at Amica Mutual Pavilion.

The teams reconvene in Springfield on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 7:05 p.m. for the annual Ice-O-Topes Night presented by Balise.

Fans can get their Thunderbirds tickets today by calling (413) 739-GOAL (4625) or by visiting www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.

-- SPRINGFIELD THUNDERBIRDS -

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Springfield Thunderbirds'Samuel Johannesson, Samuel Johannesson, and Leo Loof on game night
Springfield Thunderbirds'Samuel Johannesson, Samuel Johannesson, and Leo Loof on game night
   

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