Thunderbirds lose another heartbreaker to Providence, start three game road trip beginning tonight in Hartford

Story By: Matthew Wiernasz

Photo Courtesy of the Springfield Thunderbirds

SPRINGFIELD, MA-  The Springfield Thunderbirds took on the Providence Bruins for the third time in seven days, and last weekend both teams were able to get wins on their home rink  This time the Providence Bruins stole a win at the Thunderdome by defeating the Thunderbirds 3-2 on Saturday night.

” I think it showed a lot. Big penalty kill at the end. A lot of guys stepped up. They needed to step up. You get a goal from (Joey) Abate which is a bonus but the one thing with this team is they compete and they play with tons of courage. It was great to see Bussi go in there and get the win. I thought coming in a difficult situation. He did an awesome job.” Bruins Head Coach Ryan Mougenel Said

Bruins prospect Fabian Lysell got his team on the board on a breakaway when he scored 1:44 into the opening period when he beat Thunderbirds goaltender Vadim Zherenko.

Bruins goaltender Kyle Keyser was injured in the first period after getting into a collision with teammate Vinni Lettieri. Keyser left the game with a lower-body injury.  Brandon Bussi would come into the game in place of Keyser.

The Thunderbirds responded with two late goals in the first period. Mathias Laferriere would score on a rebound with two minutes remaining in the first period.  Matthew Highmore gave the Thunderbirds their first lead of the night 59 seconds later as he took the pass from Josh Leivo and beat Bussi.

Luke Toporowski tied the game for the Bruins as he tipped in a shot from Kai Wissman to tie the game at 2-2 at the 3:00 mark of the second period.

Joey Abate got the game-winning goal for his team in the second period with 4:00 remaining in the second period as he took the shot that went over the blocker of Zherenko to make it 3-2.

” It’s something we’ve been working on in practice and was just kind of a little muscle memory. Beat the guy to the puck and I knew I was going upstairs with it.” Bruins forward Joey Abate Said

Bussi made 25 saves in relief of Kyle Keyser.

” Just feels good to help the team in any way I can. It’s been a pretty wacky week.” Bussi Said

Bussi and the Bruins shutout the Islanders on Sunday in Bridgeport.

The Thunderbirds will begin a three-game road trip tonight at the XL Center in Hartford. The T-Birds defeated the Wolf Pack 5-1 on Friday night at the MassMutual Center. The Thunderbirds will continue their trip to Pennsylvania against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and then conclude the road trip on Saturday against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

The Thunderbirds will then return to home ice at the MassMutual Center for a five-game homestand beginning on Wednesday, November 16 against the Syracuse Crunch with the school day game beginning at 10:35 a.m.