SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Springfield Thunderbirds (3-10-2-1) rode a magnificent night from their goaltender to a 2-0 shutout victory over the Utica Comets (2-9-2-1) on Friday night inside a sold-out MassMutual Center.

An unlikely source got the T-Birds onto the scoresheet just 4:04 into the period, as defenseman Leo Loof made a wise read from the defensive zone, jumping into a rush to create a 2-on-1 attack. With Jakub Stancl crashing the net from the left-wing side, Loof used the shooting lane available to him, snapping a wrister over Nico Daws' blocker, giving Springfield the one-goal edge off setups from Hugh McGing and Nikita Alexandrov.

Georgi Romanov got the nod in the T-Birds' goal crease and answered the bell in the opening 20 minutes, making eight stops while his defense in front of him limited Utica's high-danger chances.

The middle period did not produce much in the way of chances, but the Comets made a strong push in the final minutes of the frame, and Romanov was forced to be at his best with a handful of saves off redirections. The netminder also got some fortunate luck on one occasion as a Mike Hardman deflection attempt glanced off the underside of the crossbar, but stayed out. 

Springfield also killed off one Utica power play attempt in the later stages of the second, while Utica went 2-for-2 to begin its night on the penalty kill, including 1:16 of power play time for the T-Birds at the start of the third. The Comets relentlessly pressured the Springfield net throughout the third, but Romanov had answers time and time again. Utica finished the game with 33 shots, but Romanov had stops on every one.

Calle Rosen finally put the game away with 1:11 to play, taking a pass from Romanov behind the net and lobbing a shot 200 feet down the ice and into a yawning cage to round out the scoring. The netminder's first shutout and win as a T-Bird also gave Springfield its second straight win on home ice.

The T-Birds get back on the ice on Wednesday, Nov. 26, in Hartford for another chapter of the Braman Pest Control I-91 Rivalry against the Wolf Pack; puck drop at PeoplesBank Arena is set for 7:00 p.m.

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).