SPRINGFIELD – The Springfield Thunderbirds (17-7-2-1) vaulted to a 5-3 win behind three third-period goals against the Rochester Americans (16-9-0-0) on New Year’s Day inside the MassMutual Center.
Two of the top offenses in the AHL’s Eastern Conference lived up to their billing in a wild first period that featured three lead changes and five goals. Rochester dented the scoresheet first when J.J. Peterka faked a shot from the left circle and slid a pass right to the tape of Linus Weissbach, who one-timed it past Joel Hofer to give the Americans the 1-0 lead at the 4:31 mark.
Springfield would bite back 3:04 later on a man advantage, as Keean Washkurak deflected a Michael Kim point shot past Michael Houser in the Rochester crease to tie the score at 1-1. Washkurak extended his goal-scoring streak to four games, the second-longest such streak in Thunderbirds team history.
Fifty-three seconds later, Sam Anas gave the Thunderbirds their first lead when he picked Peterka’s pocket deep in the Rochester zone and snapped a wrist shot through the legs of Houser at 8:28 for an unassisted tally, making it a 2-1 score.
The league’s top offense in Rochester showed their own resiliency when Peterka went one-on-one against a defender to lift a backhand chip over the glove of Hofer to tie the score, 2-2, at 10:59.
The Amerks’ power play then flexed its top-ranked muscle at 16:34 when Mason Jobst took a cross-ice feed from Peterka and found an empty net behind Hofer to put Rochester back on top, 3-2, heading into the first intermission.
Rochester had a second power-play immediately following the Jobst goal, but it was Matthew Peca who got the best scoring chance on it, as his breakaway bid glanced off Houser and then the post to keep the score at 3-2.
The first wild offensive period gave way to a robust middle stanza for Hofer and Houser. Houser would be the busier goaltender, fending off all 14 Springfield shot attempts, including a mad scramble that nearly got the game even.
Peca drew a penalty with just 10 seconds left on the clock in the third, thanks to a near end-to-end rush on goal. The carryover penalty time in the third gave Springfield the man advantage on a fresh sheet of ice, and Peca himself tied the game, 3-3, with a one-time blast over Houser’s glove just 59 seconds into the final period.
Springfield had its lead back for good, thanks to its newest player, not even four minutes later. Will Bitten made his way to the side of Houser’s goal off a faceoff and saw the puck bounce right to him off a poke by Mackenzie MacEachern. Then, with just the goalie to beat, Bitten faked to his backhand and slid the puck through the legs of Houser to make it a 4-3 game at the 4:03 mark.
Peca made sure Rochester would get no closer when he cashed in his second goal of the period just 44 seconds later, crashing the front of the net to pick up a loose puck off a pass from Bitten and firing it home to make it a 5-3 game. Like his last start, Hofer had a perfect showing in the final two periods to pick up his third consecutive win with 27 saves.
Springfield looks to complete a perfect week on Sunday afternoon when they visit the Providence Bruins at 3:05 p.m. at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
- Courtesy of the Springfield Thunderbirds
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