SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Springfield Thunderbirds (3-3-2-1) came out on the wrong side of a wild 7-6 overtime contest against the Providence Bruins (4-6-0-0) on Friday night inside the MassMutual Center.

The visiting Bruins had scored first only once in their first nine games, but that trend was bucked when Brian Halonen ripped a one-timer through Will Cranley just 1:53 into the action to give Providence a 1-0 advantage. It was their first goal against Cranley in over 60 minutes.

However, the Bruins' mojo did not last long, as the T-Birds' fourth line responded just 27 seconds later. Juraj Pekarcik filtered a puck into the middle, where Kale Kessy extended his stick to tip it past Simon Zajicek for his first goal in 61 career games as a T-Bird, making it 1-1 at 2:20.

After Kessy's momentum-shifting tally, the Thunderbirds' top line joined the party at 12:42, with veteran stalwart Nathan Walker funneling through the mid-slot area and deflecting an Arseni Koromyslov one-timer through Zajicek's legs to make it 2-1.

Walker's first period was far from finished. Two Bruins penalties opened the door for Springfield's man advantage, and Walker set himself up at the side of the net, took a pass from T.J. Tynan, and stuffed home a second-chance bid through Zajicek to make it 3-1 at 17:58. Tynan, playing in his 800th career pro game, picked up AHL point number 699 of his prolific career on Walker's second goal of the period.

Things started promisingly in the second period for Springfield, even though the T-Birds were forced to go shorthanded in the opening minute. Oskar Sundqvist potted Springfield's league-leading fourth shorthanded tally, connecting on his own rebound just 42 seconds into the middle stanza to extend the lead to 4-1.

The Bruins refused to go quietly into the evening, though. Just over three minutes later, Mikey Eyssimont became the AHL's first 10-goal man when he snapped a forehander past Cranley at 4:16 to cut the Springfield lead to 4-2.

Things calmed down for much of the next 10 minutes, but that changed at 14:03, when Jakub Stancl parked himself at the net front and redirected a Marc-Andre Gaudet shot over Zajicek to make it 5-2.

With a three-goal lead in tow, the T-Birds got themselves into hot water with mistakes, beginning with a sluggish shift after the Stancl goal. It led to a wrister from Ty Gallagher that beat Cranley just 43 seconds later and got Providence back within two, 5-3.

Then the T-Birds got themselves into a predicament with penalties, and the Bruins' cold power play came to life on back-to-back strikes from Ivan Ivan at 16:54 and Brendan Gaunce with just two seconds left in the period. The goals stunned the Thunderdome crowd and sent the game to the final period deadlocked, 5-5.

For the first time since it was 1-0 early in the first period, the Bruins got back to the lead at 9:27 of the third, when speedy Lukas Reichel sneaked behind the Springfield defense and beat Cranley on a five-hole backhander to give Providence a 6-5 edge.

Springfield finally stopped the bleeding at 18:32, with Cranley on the bench for an extra attacker, when Tynan put a puck into traffic at the edge of the crease. With Justin Carbonneau and Walker both whacking away in the vicinity, the puck found its way home to tie the game, 6-6, on a tally that would later be credited to Walker, giving the Australian his second hat trick as a T-Bird, while Tynan picked up his milestone 700th AHL point.

With both teams surviving the peaks and valleys of regulation, overtime created a new opportunity, one that the Bruins snatched from the outset. Despite losing the draw to begin the extra period, Ivan found himself in a board battle at the blue line, freeing the puck for Dans Locmelis on a breakaway. Cranley made the first stop, but Locmelis batted the rebound out of mid-air to a waiting Ivan, who slammed it into a yawning net just 11 seconds into the extra period, giving Providence the stunning 7-6 triumph.

After an idle Saturday, the T-Birds return to the ice on Sunday afternoon for their first battle in the Braman I-91 Rivalry against the Wolf Pack. Puck drop is set for 3:05 p.m. at the Thunderdome.

2026-27 T-Birds season memberships and individual game tickets are on sale now. Reserve your seats at SpringfieldThunderbirds.com or call (413) 739-GOAL (4625).