BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – The Springfield Thunderbirds (1-8-1-1) fell victim to a second-period surge by the Bridgeport Islanders (5-6-1-0) in a 6-1 loss on Saturday at Total Mortgage Arena.

Starting his first game of the season, Will Cranley was busy in the opening period in the Springfield crease, but the 23-year-old answered the bell with 14 first-period saves, which included a handful of beauties as the T-Birds survived nearly 90 seconds of a two-man disadvantage at the end of the period.

At the other end, Marcus Hogberg was equally sturdy in the Bridgeport crease, keeping Springfield off the board through nine shots in the first 20 minutes.

Bridgeport finally broke through on Cranley at 1:26 of the second when Alex Jefferies picked the corner over Cranley's blocker to give the Isles a 1-0 lead. Eetu Liukas added to the lead during a Bridgeport penalty kill just 2:10 later, driving to the front of the net and tipping a Daylan Kuefler pass over Cranley's shoulder.

The Islanders only added to the T-Birds' tough stretch at 9:02 when Adam Beckman crashed the paint and deflected a Matt Maggio cross-ice pass in behind Cranley to make it a 3-0 game.

The T-Birds finally answered the Bridgeport run with a power play tally from Juraj Pekarcik at 15:32, as the rookie fired a shot from the left-wing circle off a defender's legs and past Hogberg, cutting the margin to 3-1 entering the third. Marc-Andre Gaudet picked up his first AHL point on the primary assist.

Springfield had two more opportunities to cut into the lead in the third on the power play, but again Hogberg and the Bridgeport penalty kill stood tall. Joey Larson, who scored three times in the first two meetings between the clubs, added to his red-hot start when he fired a wrister past Cranley at 13:39, and Chris Terry and Marc Gatcomb followed that up with goals 23 seconds apart to round out the scoring in the back half of the third.

The T-Birds next take to the ice for the annual School Day Game on Wednesday morning at 10:35 a.m. at the MassMutual Center, where they will take on the Laval Rocket.

Single-game tickets and ticket memberships for all remaining games in the Thunderbirds' 2025-26 season are available now - fans can order now by visiting www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com or by calling (413) 739-GOAL (4625).