BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - The Springfield Thunderbirds (10-10-1-4) emerged victorious in overtime, 2-1, in a defensive battle over the Bridgeport Islanders (14-6-5-0) on Wednesday night at Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport.

Following his 25-save blanking of the Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday, Joel Hofer picked right up where he left off in turning away 13 Bridgeport shot attempts in the opening period, the fifth straight game in which the T-Birds kept their opponents off the board in the opening 20 minutes.

On their first power play chance of the night, the T-Birds made quick work of the Bridgeport penalty kill, as Matt Kessel's point shot hit Greg Printz, creating a fortuitous bounce for Matthew Highmore, who slipped a quick feed to Nikita Alexandrov in the right circle. From there, Alexandrov connected to get to the scoresheet for a fifth straight game, beating Cory Schneider to give Springfield a 1-0 edge at 9:04 of the period.

After the clubs combined for 28 shots in the first, the defenses stiffened in period two. Bridgeport kept Springfield to just a single shot in the stanza, and the Islanders - despite three power-play chances - registered just eight for themselves, with Hofer remaining perfect, highlighted by a sliding post-to-post save on a Jeff Kubiak backhander.

Schneider took his turn in the spotlight in a busy third period that saw him turn away all 17 Springfield shots, including numerous chances from point-blank range. 

Bridgeport was opportunistic on one of the few Springfield mistakes of the evening when Vincent Sevigny intercepted a pass at the top of the left circle in the T-Birds zone and wristed a shot over Hofer's glove at 8:02 of the final period, tying the game, 1-1. The shot ended Hofer's shutout streak at 108:02 of game action.

Schneider kept the fort secure in the Springfield zone, and the tie score carried into the overtime period. Both teams generated only one shot in the 3-on-3 action. Hofer came up with a glove save on Ruslan Iskhakov, and moments later, Jake Neighbours got the T-Birds the win, as he carried the puck toward the bottom of the left-wing circle and sneaked a shot under the crossbar, short-side, against Schneider. The beautiful release at 3:03 overtime gave the rookie his second goal in two games and his first professional overtime goal. Springfield has now earned seven of a possible eight points in its last four games played.

The Thunderbirds continue their road trip on Friday night with a matchup in Syracuse against the Crunch. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. on Friday.

Thunderbirds fans can reserve their seats for the 2022-23 season and lock in the best prices and member benefits by calling (413) 739-GOAL (4625) or visiting www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.