SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Springfield Thunderbirds (28-29-6-2) used a three-goal second period blitz to help themselves to a 4-2 win over the Hershey Bears (28-29-6-3) on Friday night inside the MassMutual Center.

After withstanding an early push from the visiting Bears, the T-Birds earned the game's first power play with a chance to change the tides. Instead, shorthanded specialist Grant Cruikshank picked Springfield's pocket deep in the T-Birds zone and snapped a forehander through Vadim Zherenko at 11:22 to stun the home crowd and give Hershey the 1-0 lead. The tally was Cruikshank's AHL-leading fifth shorthanded goal of the year. 

From there, Hershey netminder Mitch Gibson stole the show, making 12 first period saves, including point-blank denials on Hugh McGing, Dillon Dube, and Thomas Bordeleau.

The tipping point came 1:53 into the second when two consecutive Springfield slashing infractions set the stage for a 60-second two-man advantage for the Bears. Even after utilizing their timeout, the Bears could not solve the confident Springfield unit, and the 1-0 score remained after the T-Birds killed both penalties. At 6:57 of the period, Akil Thomas finally broke the ice behind Gibson, tipping a punch shot from Michael Buchinger into the twine, tying the game, 1-1.

Then Springfield's power play, stuck in an 0-for-23 funk, snapped out of its slumber in a huge way. Alek Kaskimaki patiently gathered in a puck deep in zone and chipped a forehand over a sprawled Gibson at 10:22 to give the T-Birds their first lead, 2-1. Veteran linemates Chris Wagner and Dillon Dube garned the assists.

Bordeleau followed that up at 14:54 with a perfect one-time snapper over Gibson's blocker off a cross-crease setup by Zach Dean. Springfield carried that 3-1 lead to intermission following a fourth succesful penalty kill in the period. 

Both teams did not lack in the shot department in the third, but it took until the 12:00 mark for Louie Belpedio to finally get Hershey back on the board as he pushed a second-chance shot past a screened Zherenko to cut the margin to 3-2.

However, the scuffling visitors could not find another one against the confident Springfield goaltender, and Hunter Skinner closed the proceedings with an empty-netter with just 22 seconds to go. Zherenko's third straight win came on a night where the veteran backstop denied 31 of 33 attempts for his 50th career win for the T-Birds. 

By virtue of their win and Lehigh Valley's loss in regulation, the T-Birds now sit in sixth place in the Atlantic Division alone, climbing to within one point of the Bears in the process. Springfield's magic number to clinch a Calder Cup playoff berth now rests at 11. That number dwindles for every point the T-Birds earn in the standings, as well as every point Lehigh Valley fails to earn.

The T-Birds stay on home ice for a 6:05 p.m. matchup on Saturday against their former captain Matthew Peca and the Syracuse Crunch.

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).