ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Springfield Thunderbirds (33-27-2-4) received another multi-point performance from their captain but could not muster enough offense to squeak past the Rochester Americans (40-18-4-3), who came away with a 4-2 win on Wednesday night at Blue Cross Arena. The Amerks punched their ticket to the Calder Cup Playoffs with the victory.

The T-Birds came out with a purpose in the opening period in enemy territory, generating lots of early pressure in the Amerks' zone, and it nearly culminated in a 1-0 lead when Hugh McGing jammed a wraparound through Levi shy of the five-minute mark. 

However, upon official review, the goal was washed out. Not even 30 seconds later, Rochester had the 1-0 lead instead as Massachusetts native Jack Rathbone flipped a wrister over Colten Ellis on the glove side at 5:14 of the period.

Despite the unfortunate turn of events, Springfield kept the pedal down, making a strong penalty kill on Rochester's first man-advantage of the night and turning that success into more offensive momentum. Otto Stenberg ended a 15-game goal drought when a Corey Schueneman point shot turned into a changeup and a pass to the rookie in the low slot. Stenberg quickly turned and elevated a shot over Devon Levi's stick to tie the score 11 minutes after Rathbone had made it a 1-0 game. T-Birds captain Matthew Peca picked up the secondary assist, setting a new personal career-high in points (61) in a season.

Peca added another milestone to his spectacular season in the final minute of the frame, as he found himself in the perfect place at the bottom of the right-wing circle when a Leo Loof shot rocketed off the end boards right to Peca's blade, who punched it into a yawning net before Levi could recover, giving Springfield the 2-1 lead at 19:30 and giving the captain his first 30-goal season. He became the fifth player in the AHL to reach the plateau this season. 

The T-Birds had a bevy of glorious chances to extend their lead in the early stages of the second, but Levi rose to the occasion with a pair of breakaway saves on Peca and Tarun Fizer. Rochester rewarded their goaltender's efforts with an equalizer at the 8:59 mark when a Graham Slaggert attempt from the left wing bounced right to the stick of a crashing Anton Wahlberg, who shuffled a backhand try over Ellis to make it a 2-2 game.

An innocent-looking rush from Isak Rosen in the third period resulted in the game-winner at 8:41 of the third as the Amerks' leading goal scorer surprised Ellis with a short-side wrister than squeezed through the goaltender's arm to give Rochester a 3-2 lead.

Springfield's power play had one more chance to try to muster a comeback bid, but Levi and the Amerks' stout defense did not allow the T-Birds to recover. Noah Ostlund extended his goal streak to six straight games, finishing the night with an empty-netter in the final minute.

As a result, the T-Birds' magic number to clinch a Calder Cup playoff spot remains at 4. They will look to chop that number down to 2 on Friday as they visit the Utica Comets inside Adirondack Bank Center for a 7:00 p.m. puck drop. 

Fans can get their Thunderbirds tickets for the Calder Cup playoff push today by calling (413) 739-GOAL (4625) or by visiting www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.