HARTFORD, Conn. - The Springfield Thunderbirds (1-2-0-0) received many offensive contributions but did not do enough to hold off the Hartford Wolf Pack (1-0-0-1) in a 6-5 loss on Friday night inside the XL Center.

For the first time in three contests, Steve Konowalchuk's T-Birds got on the scoresheet first when Nikita Alexandrov finished off a 2-on-1 with a rising wrist shot from the right circle at 2:01 of the opening period that eluded Hartford netminder Louis Domingue. 

The lead proved short-lived, as Brennan Othmann found the puck on his stick in the low slot. The second-year pro slipped a snapper through the legs of Vadim Zherenko to tie the score at 4:27. Othmann was not finished either, and on Hartford's first power play just 2:04 later, Othmann took a feed from Brett Berard and snapped a shot through Zherenko from nearly the same spot, giving the Wolf Pack a 2-1 lead.

After things settled down for a few minutes, Springfield's fourth line found an equalizer as Tarun Fizer squeezed into the slot and found the back of the net over Domingue's blocker, tying the score, 2-2, at 12:31. Drew Callin and Mathias Laferriere each picked up their first points of the season on Fizer's first goal as a T-Bird.

Hartford's power play continued to be a problem for Springfield when the Pack went to their second man-advantage at 16:17 of the first. Less than a minute later, Jaroslav Chmelar corraled a loose rebound between the hash marks and shuttled a backhander through Zherenko's legs to make it 3-2 for Hartford at 17:05.

Chmelar followed Othmann's lead and added another one in the final seconds, as Adam Erne's centering pass careened off the young Czech's body and overtop of Zherenko's shoulder, giving Hartford a 4-2 advantage through a wild 20-minute frame.

Brandon Scanlin furthered the Hartford lead to 5-2 at the 5:50 mark, just moments after he was denied at point-blank range by Zherenko. The blueliner's first tally of the year gave the Wolf Pack their biggest lead, but that three-goal cushion lasted only 37 seconds. Dylan Peterson raced into the offensive zone on a 2-on-1. Peterson calmly dragged the puck around a fallen defender and snapped a wrist shot past the glove of Domingue, cutting the margin to 5-3 at 6:27. 

Just over four minutes later, Peterson, fresh off his first professional goal, added another as he got loose in front of the crease and flicked a wrister past Domingue's blocker to make it 5-4 at 10:36, a margin that carried into the final period. Springfield outshot the Wolf Pack 15-6 in the middle frame.

The T-Birds' penalty kill tightened and kept the dangerous Hartford power play off the board on two chances in the first half of the final frame, but at 10:47, Brett Berard found himself unmarked near the blue paint and chipped a Chmelar pass through Zherenko to restore the two-goal margin.

Still unwilling to bow out quietly, the Springfield power play finally got its first connection of the season when Dalibor Dvorsky uncorked a missile from the right circle at 12:32 to bring the game to a 6-5 score. Alexandrov picked up his second point of the night with the primary assist.

In the end, though, the visitors could not find an equalizer, and Domingue and the Wolf Pack escaped their home opener with a one-goal triumph.

The T-Birds return home on Saturday night to take on the Providence Bruins for the first of 12 meetings this season. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m. at the MassMutual Center. 

Interested 2024-25 season ticket members can call (413) 739-GOAL (4625) or visit www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com to learn how to become a regular at the Thunderdome.