Thunderbirds wrap up regular season this weekend
Story By: Matthew Wiernasz
Photo Courtesy of the Springfield Thunderbirds
SPRINGFIELD, MA- The Springfield Thunderbirds had a tough loss last Friday against the Hershey Bears 3-2 at the MassMutual Center.
The Bears got on the board as Hendrix Lapierre used the backhand as Hofer made the initial save. The puck would then go off of a Thunderbirds player and into the net to make it 1-0 2:11 into the opening period.
Mikhail Abramov tied the game for the Thunderbirds after he put in the rebound on a shot from defenseman Austin Osmanski to even the score at 1-1. At first the ref waved the no goal signal but after video review the call on ice was a goal and the score was 1-1 over 10 minutes later.
Garrett Pilon retook the lead for the Bears as he intercepted a pass and fired the snap shot past Thunder rids goaltender Joel Hofer to make it 2-1 with 3:52 remaining in the first period.
The Thunderbirds would tie the game as Greg Printz fired the backhand shot when Bears goaltender Hunter Shepard made the initial save. Keean Washkurak was able to put in the rebound to tie the game at 2-2 with 16:26 remaining in the second period.
Former Thunderbird Sam Anas would score the game-winning goal on the power play as he took the shot that went over the glove of Hofer with 14:26 remaining in regulation to make it 3-2.
The Thunderbirds traveled to Allentown to take on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms as they lost 4-3. Although after Saturday’s loss, the T-Birds did clinch a playoff spot for the Calder Cup Playoffs
The Thunderbirds will have their final 3-in-3 of the regular season. They will take on the Providence Bruins tonight at the MassMutual Center and wrap up the home portion of the schedule when they take on their I-91 rival the Hartford Wolf Pack. Both games tonight and tomorrow night will begin at 7:05 p.m. The two final home games are sold out as well. For those that cannot attend this weekends games, they can watch them at MGM Springfield.
The regular season will conclude on Sunday when they take on the Providence Bruins in Providence.