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AHL Springfield Thunderbirds

Thunderbirds Return to Home Ice this Weekend

October 24, 2019 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Springfield Thunderbirds News Release


SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Springfield Thunderbirds (3-4-0-0) will play another three games this upcoming weekend, concluding a five-game road trip on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. in Bridgeport against the Sound Tigers (1-3-1-1) before home-ice battles with the Belleville Senators (2-4-0-0) and Rochester Americans (4-2-0-1) on Saturday (7:05 p.m.) and Sunday (5:05 p.m.) respectively.

The Thunderbirds hold a 2-2-0-0 record thus far on their five-game road trip, and are coming off a 4-3 shootout win on Saturday over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Tommy Cross, Daniel Audette, and Anthony Greco all scored in a second period offensive explosion, while Audette and Kevin Roy scored in the shootout to bring Springfield its first shootout win since the 2017-18 season.

Philippe Desrosiers won his first game as a T-Bird netminder, stopping 38 shots in regulation and six out of seven shootout attempts. The Springfield defense has remained a strength, as the Thunderbirds sit fifth in the AHL in goals against per game (2.29). Their penalty kill has excelled on the road trip, going 19-for-21, a clip of 90.5%, including a 6-for-6 performance in Allentown on Saturday.

Friday, the Thunderbirds visit a struggling Bridgeport team that has won just once in the young season, and a team that Springfield defeated 5-1 on Opening Night in Springfield on Oct. 5. After relenting an early goal, the T-Birds rattled off the final five tallies that evening from five different goal scorers.

Saturday marks the first meeting between the Thunderbirds and Belleville Senators since the 2017-18 season. The Thunderbirds have won both meetings against the Senators, taking home a 7-4 win in Springfield in October of 2017 and a 2-1 win in Belleville in April of 2018. The Senators enter the weekend coming off a 3-2 win over Laval on Wednesday after dropping four of their first five contests.

The Rochester Americans make their second October trip to Springfield on Sunday, looking for their fourth win in six lifetime trips to the MassMutual Center. The Americans held on for a narrow 2-1 win on Oct. 11 behind a 20-save performance by Andrew Hammond. Chris Driedger played marvelously for the T-Birds in that matchup, stopping 38 of 40 shots. 17 of which came in the final period alone.

The Thunderbirds will stay at home following this three-game weekend for a pair of contests against division foes Hershey and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2 respectively.

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.

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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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