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AHL Springfield Thunderbirds

T-Birds Tripped Up By Bruins On Sold Out Saturday Night

December 30, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Thunderbirds News Release


Springfield Thunderbirds' Jakub Vrana versus Providence Bruins' Michael Callahan
Springfield Thunderbirds' Jakub Vrana versus Providence Bruins' Michael Callahan
(Springfield Thunderbirds)

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- The Springfield Thunderbirds (16-10-3-1) had few answers for a confident opposing attack, falling 8-2 to the Providence Bruins (17-12-2-2) on Saturday night in front of a sold-out MassMutual Center crowd of 6,793.

The Bruins were opportunistic off a self-inflicted T-Birds mistake to jump to a 1-0 lead at 3:44 of the opening period. Will Bitten directed a pass back toward the Springfield bench, where a pair of defenders were in the process of a line change. Out of the confusion, Anthony Richard jumped on the loose puck and quickly snapped a wrister through Vadim Zherenko to give Providence the game's opening goal.

Rookie Bruins blueliner Ethan Ritchie would add his first career AHL goal just 60 seconds later, jumping up into a 3-on-2 rush and ripping a shot through Zherenko at 4:44 off a drop pass from Jesper Boqvist. Providence also made life difficult on the T-Birds' offense, as the Springfield attack mustered only five shots in the opening 20 minutes.

After going unsuccessful on a power play early in the second, the T-Birds saw a familiar bout of adversity when Justin Brazeau whipped a turnaround wrister through Zherenko at 6:21 to make it 3-0 for Providence.

The T-Birds gave the sellout crowd a glimpse of another comeback bid when Jakub Vrana extended his point streak to four games with a beautiful wrist shot under the crossbar behind Brandon Bussi, cutting the lead to 3-1 just 18 seconds after the Brazeau goal.

The two-goal deficit proved only temporary, though, as Jesper Boqvist scored on the front end of a four-minute power play, one of his three points on the night, at 8:40 to make it 4-1.

Zach Bolduc had the opportunity to give the T-Birds another jolt when he was awarded a penalty shot with Springfield down a man at the 10:46 mark. However, Bussi had the answer with the leg pad, shutting the rookie's bid down and keeping Providence ahead by three.

The Bruins rewarded their goalie in kind with back-to-back power-play goals from John Farinacci at 11:31 and Trevor Kuntar at 15:11, upping the margin to 6-1 before Bitten finally got Springfield on the board again with a power-play tip-in at 19:27 of period two.

Patrick Brown would add to the Providence lead with a rush up the left side at 7:17 of the third, and Jayson Megna capped off the scoring by netting the first shorthanded goal against Springfield all season at 18:00.

The T-Birds finish up the homestand as they begin a 3-in-3 weekend against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday at 7:05 p.m. at the MassMutual Center.

Fans can reserve seats for Thunderbirds' hockey action throughout the 2023-24 season by calling (413)-739-GOAL (4625) or visiting www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.

-- SPRINGFIELD THUNDERBIRDS -

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Images from this story

Springfield Thunderbirds' Jakub Vrana versus Providence Bruins' Michael Callahan
Springfield Thunderbirds' Jakub Vrana versus Providence Bruins' Michael Callahan
   



American Hockey League Stories from December 30, 2023


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