Thunderbirds have tough going against their I-91 rival

Story By: Matthew Wiernasz

Photo courtesy of the Springfield Thunderbirds

SPRINGFIELD, MA-  The Springfield Thunderbirds were defeated by the Hartford Wolf Pack 5-1 last Wednesday night at the MassMutual Center.

Matthew Robertson got the Wolf Pack on the board late in the first period with 3:50 when he took the shot and put it in the open net.  Thunderbirds Head Coach Drew Bannister and goaltender Joel Hofer felt that Hofer tried to get back to the net to play the puck but the goal stand as it was 1-0 after one period of play.

Will Cuylle help extend the lead for the Wolf Pack on a turnover. He found Lauri Pajuniemi and he fired the shot past Hofer’s glove to make it 2-0 for Hartford with 11:48 remaining in the second period

Will Bitten cut into the lead for the Thunderbirds as he scored on a rebound with the wrist shot from Martin Frk from the blue to make it 2-1.

Pajuniemi would add his second goal of the game for the Wolf Pack with the one-timer with 6:19 remaining to make it 3-1.

The Wolf Pack would add two more goals in the third period. Cuylle made it 4-1 for the Wolf Pack just 1:10 into the third period. Pajuniemi added an empty net goal to complete the hat trick with 2:48 remaining in regulation to make it 5-1.

These two I-91 rivals will be meeting a lot during the month of March.  The first meeting of the month will be this Friday night at the MassMutual Center for the drop of the puck at 7:05 p.m.