WILKES-BARRE, Penn. - The Springfield Thunderbirds erased a 4-1 first intermission deficit to stun the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 7-6, on Sunday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza. The win completed a three-game series sweep of the Penguins and advanced the Thunderbirds onto the Atlantic Division Finals.
Springfield will face the winner of the series between the Charlotte Checkers and the Bridgeport Islanders. Charlotte currently leads that best-of-five series, two games to one.
After scoring just three times over the first two games of the series, the Penguins used their home-ice advantage to build a cushion for themselves on Sunday. Jonathan Gruden got the Penguins fans cheering just 2:45 into the period, cashing in on a 3-on-2 rush to make it a 1-0 game.
Springfield’s scorching power play did its job less than six minutes later when Sam Anas ripped a wrist shot past Tommy Nappier on the glove side to tie the game, 1-1, at 8:27.
However, the Anas goal proved to be of little dismay for the Penguins, who rattled off three goals over the next 8:14 of game action following the Springfield power-play goal. First, after a misplay behind the net by the T-Birds defense, Valtteri Puustinen swiped the puck and found Filip Hallander in front of the goal for a one-timer that squeezed through Lindgren at 10:22.
Sam Poulin was next to join the scoring party on a power play at 14:31, cracking the Penguins’ 0-for-8 power-play drought in the process. Lastly, Nathan Legare became the third different Penguin to pick up a goal and an assist in the first frame, tucking a backhander through Lindgren’s legs at 16:41 to make it 4-1 into the first intermission.
Drew Bannister’s team was down, but far from out as the second period began. The T-Birds engaged the Penguins defense throughout a ten-minute blitz of Nappier’s net to start the period, eventually drawing a pair of penalties and a chance to cut into the lead on a 5-on-3 advantage.
At 10:36 of the period, the two-man advantage did just that, as Will Bitten camped himself right along the goal line and directed a feed from Nikita Alexandrov into the net, following an initial redirection by Dakota Joshua near the top of the crease. Bitten’s second goal and four-point of the series brought Springfield back to a manageable 4-2 deficit.
Just 2:23 later, Steven Santini let a slapper fly from the right point that eluded Nappier, bringing Springfield’s deficit to just a single goal at 4-3.
The T-Birds would not even wait for the intermission to get back even in the game, as Joshua jammed a loose puck through Nappier at the side of the goal with 2:45 to go in the period, sending the game into the final period tied, 4-4.
Springfield kept the throttle down to begin the third, as Matthew Peca parked himself on the doorstep 5:00 in, shuffling home a rebound from a Santini shot to give the T-Birds their first lead, 5-4.
MacKenzie MacEachern was next to join the scoring party, cashing in on a loose puck to the side of Nappier’s net at 7:25 of the third, elevating the lead to 6-4.
The Penguins, to their credit, would not go quietly, as Poulin’s second power play goal of the night made it a 6-5 game at 8:54 of the third.
However, Springfield continued to stay just one step ahead, as Peca made a beautiful spinning pass to a cutting Hugh McGing to get Springfield on the board for the third time in the game on the power play, making it 7-5 with 8:45 to play.
One more time, the Penguins got back to within a goal when Alex Nylander took advantage of a Springfield turnover to beat Lindgren at 12:34, cutting it to 7-6.
This time, however, the Penguins were out of responses, and the T-Birds completed the thrilling Game 3 victory and sweep of the series.
The Atlantic Division Finals schedule will be announced later this week, following the conclusion of the Islanders/Checkers series.
Thunderbirds’ Pay As We Play plans for the Atlantic Division Finals are on sale now! To purchase your seats and lock in your same spot for all postseason games, call (413) 739-GOAL (4625) or visit www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.
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