T-Birds shutout I-91 rival
Story By: Matthew Wiernasz
Photo Courtesy of the Springfield Thunderbirds
HARTFORD, CT- After losing a heartbreaker the night before, the Springfield Thunderbirds were able to rebound with a 4-0 victory on Saturday night against their I-91 rival, the Hartford Wolf Pack.
The Thunderbirds were able to get on the board first for the first time in five games. Defenseman Scott Perunovich made the saucer pass to Nikita Alexandrov and used the backhand to make it a 1-0 game with 5:46 remaining in the first period.
The T-Birds went on a 2-on-1 rush in the second period as it was Mathias Laferriere and Adam Gaudette. Laferriere fired the initial shot as Wolf Pack goaltender Dylan Garand made the save but Gaudette was able to score on the rebound to make it 2-0 with 9:28 remaining in the second period.
Laferriere would get his second point of the game in only over a minute. T-Birds forward Matthew Highmore made the diagonal pass to Laferriere and was able to put the puck into the net with 8:22 remaining in the second period to make it 3-0.
Hugh McGing would give the Thunderbirds insurance in the third period as he was on a 2-on-1 rush with Will Bitten. McGing was able to score top shelf with 5:16 remaining in regulation to make it 4-0.
The Thunderbirds announced on Monday that the St. Louis Blues have sent down goaltender Joel Hofer to the Thunderbirds. Garret Sparks was released from his PTO.
The Thunderbirds will continue the road trip as they begin tonight as they are down in Charlotte playing the Checkers for three games. The other two games will be played on Friday and Saturday. The seven-game road trip will conclude this upcoming Tuesday in Bridgeport against the Islanders.
The next home game for the Thunderbirds at the MassMutual Center will be on Friday, April 7 when the Hershey Bears come to town for the final meeting of the season in Springfield.
The next time these two I-91 rivalries will meet will be at the Thunderbird’s home season finale at the MassMutual Center on Saturday, April 15.