PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Springfield Thunderbirds (33-26-2-4) stunned the Providence Bruins (36-22-4-3) with two goals in the final 90 seconds to pick up an astonishing 3-2 win on Sunday inside Amica Mutual Pavilion. The victory shaves Springfield's magic number to just 4 in pursuit of a Calder Cup playoff berth.

The starting goaltenders had a busy first stanza on this Sunday, as the T-Birds were quick to test Brandon Bussi with 18 first-period attempts, while the Bruins pressed the gas for 11 shots on Vadim Zherenko.

Springfield broke the ice first when MacKenzie MacEachern, fresh off of being robbed by Bussi on the prior sequence, chopped a rebound over Bussi's pad at the net front following a point slapper by Nikita Alexandrov. MacEachern's third goal in as many games made it 1-0 for the visitors at 13:12.

In a penalty-free period, one of the T-Birds' few miscues wound up costing them their lead in the final minute when Tyler Pitlick blocked a point shot and raced in on a breakaway before beating Zherenko over the blocker to even the slate, 1-1.

Zherenko needed to be at his best in the middle period as the Bruins outpaced Springfield on the shot board by a 13-4 margin. The third-year netminder made his best stop of the frame in stonewalling Oliver Wahlstrom on a breakaway in the back half of the period. Springfield got the game's first power play at 4:45 of the second, but the Bruins had the best scoring chances, including a 2-on-1 shorthanded, but Fraser Minten missed the target on a left-circle attempt.

In the final minute, the T-Birds found themselves hemmed in their own end, but Zherenko was there to save the day with back-to-back saves on Brett Harrison at point-blank range to get the game into the third period deadlocked.

Springfield finally took its first two penalties in the opening half of the third, and on the Bruins' second power play, the home team gained its first lead of the night when Matthew Poitras cleaned up a Georgii Merkulov rebound off Zherenko's right pad to make it a 2-1 game at 7:16 of the third.

The T-Birds struggled to regain its first-period form, as they had managed just seven shots over roughly 35 minutes from the start of the second. However, when it mattered most, and with Zherenko on the bench for an extra skater, Alexandrov took it upon himself to turn the game around. It began when he raced through neutral ice and cut to the slot off his right-wing side. After his initial shot was blocked, Alexandrov followed through on the second chance to put the puck behind Bussi, tying the game with 1:24 remaining. 

The star winger was far from finished, though. With time dwindling on regulation, Alexandrov won a puck battle on the left-wing boards and moved to the front of the net after the puck got to Leo Loof at the left point. Loof flipped the puck into traffic, where Alexandrov deflected it across his body and under Bussi's legs, giving Springfield the 3-2 lead with just 18.6 seconds left. 

The Bruins never recovered, and Alexandrov's 20th and 21st goals of the year proved to be the difference. Zherenko finished a fantastic night of his own with 35 saves, including 12 in the final period. 

The T-Birds look to trim the magic number as low as 2 when they visit the Rochester Americans on Wednesday night inside Blue Cross Arena. Puck drop is slated for 7:05 p.m. in New York.

Fans can get their Thunderbirds tickets for the Calder Cup playoff push today by calling (413) 739-GOAL (4625) or by visiting www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.