BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — The Springfield Thunderbirds (30-20-2-4) blitzed the Bridgeport Islanders (12-38-4-3) for five unanswered goals in the final 40 minutes to pull away with a 5-2 win on Sunday afternoon at Total Mortgage Arena.

For a third straight game, the T-Birds were slow out of the gates, forcing Vadim Zherenko to be tested early and often in the first period, as 14 of the first 18 shots in the game went to the Islanders. Marshall Warren broke the levee 12:47 into the game with a wrist shot that eluded Zherenko through traffic, giving Bridgeport a 1-0 lead.

After the T-Birds were forced to go down a man on a post-whistle roughing penalty, Liam Foudy made Springfield pay with his seventh goal of the season series at 14:45 to buoy the Isles lead to 2-0. 

Springfield finally got pressure on Hunter Miska's net in the closing minutes, finishing the period with the final six attempts on goal, but the Bridgeport netminder remained perfect, stopping all 10 T-Birds shots in the first 20 minutes.

Zherenko was timely in the opening half of the second period as the Islanders continued to mount a push to extend the lead. The Springfield backstop shined, with a pair of odd-man stops off Jack Randl and Adam Beckman to maintain the 2-0 score. 

The T-Birds finally snapped out of their offensive zone funk at 10:31 as, on his 31st birthday, MacKenzie MacEachern turned in the high slot and flipped a shot toward Miska's net that got a friendly deflection from Nikita Alexandrov before finding the twine. Alexandrov's 16th goal in just 33 games cut the Bridgeport lead in half, 2-1.

Like the Islanders did in the first, Springfield went to a power play and struck for the second time in as many minutes as Dalibor Dvorsky returned from retrieving a new stick on the bench and beat Miska under the crossbar at 12:17 for his ninth power-play goal of the season. The game-tying goal brought Dvorsky into a tie among AHL rookies in man-advantage tallies.

The tie score carried into the final period, and the power play came up with the difference-making play as Matt Luff sent a puck perfectly into the paint, where Matthew Peca guided it past Miska just 1:17 into the third to give Springfield its first lead, 3-2. Peca's 26th of the season eventually became the game-winner, giving the captain his second game-deciding goal in as many days, an 11-game point streak, and the AHL lead in game-winning goals.

Samuel Johannesson picked up assists on both of the T-Birds' power-play goals, giving him 15 helpers on the man advantage for the season, tied for fifth most in the AHL. Corey Schueneman also had a two-assist night from the T-Birds' blue line.

Springfield's special teams were not finished, as just over five minutes after the Peca goal, Otto Stenberg retrieved a loose puck at the offensive blue line and fed a perfect blind pass to spring Hugh McGing on a shorthanded breakaway. McGing delivered the finishing strike through Miska, making it 4-2 at 6:22 of the third.

Bridgeport's power play could not make up the difference on a late chance, and Dvorsky capped the five-goal run with an empty-netter in the final minute to cap off the win. 

Zherenko completed a magnificent bounce-back performance with 36 saves for his 10th victory of the season and fourth in his last five starts.

With their magic number down to 18 in pursuit of a Calder Cup playoff berth, the T-Birds begin a three-game weekend on Friday as they make their lone visit to Upstate Medical University Arena against the Syracuse Crunch for a 7:00 p.m. puck drop.

Fans can get their Thunderbirds tickets today by calling (413) 739-GOAL (4625) or by visiting www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.