SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — The Springfield Thunderbirds (5-8-1-0) got five points from their youngest forward unit en route to a 4-3 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (6-4-2-1) on Friday night inside the MassMutual Center.

The game had a similar start to the teams' prior meeting 13 nights earlier, as Sam Bitten instantly pumped up the Thunderdome crowd in a scrap with Phantoms rookie Sawyer Boulton just 2:10 into the contest. Tyler Tucker and Rhett Gardner followed suit at the midpoint of the period moments after Tucker delivered a punishing body check to Lehigh Valley defenseman Louie Belpedio. 

The first punch on the scoreboard came from Elliot Desnoyers, who finished off a cross-crease pass from Garrett Wilson at 13:28 of the period to give the visitors the 1-0 lead. It was Desnoyers' first goal since April. 

Starting goalies Colten Ellis of Springfield and Cal Petersen of the Phantoms were at their best for much of the second period. After Nikita Alexandrov got Springfield back even on a redirection from a Samuel Johannesson point shot at 1:48, the Phantoms goalie put up a force field in front of his net. Together with the Lehigh Valley penalty kill, the Phantoms survived two Springfield man advantages, including a 47-second two-man advantage.

Despite the power play's shortcomings, the T-Birds continued to push and, at even strength, they broke the deadlock when Marcus Sylvegard unleashed a perfect wrist shot over Petersen's shoulder to make it 2-1 for the T-Birds at 17:42 of the second.

Ellis did everything he could to hold the lead, with a pair of terrific point-blank saves on former T-Bird Rodrigo Abols in the moments following the Sylvegard goal. Unfortunately for the home team, the Phantoms did not let up, and Abols slipped a pass in the slot to Samu Tuomaala, who snapped a quick offering past Ellis on the blocker side to tie the game with just 36 seconds left in the middle frame. 

Despite the tying marker, the T-Birds got back to their game early in the third, and Tucker raced down the left wing to careen a centering pass off of Petersen's stick and across the goal line to restore the lead just 3:27 into the final period, 3-2. 

Sylvegard returned to the spotlight at the midpoint of the third. Dalibor Dvorsky arrived behind the net, stole the puck from a Lehigh defender, and quickly whipped the puck to Sylvegard in the slot. The Swedish winger made no mistake from there, putting it off the inside of the far post to make it a 4-2 game. 

The Phantoms hung tough, and after a highlight-reel, between-the-legs deke and goal from Olle Lycksell, it was a 4-3 game with less than six minutes remaining. 

Ellis and the Springfield defense held the fort from there, and the T-Birds successfully snapped the Phantoms' seven-game point streak.

The T-Birds look for a sweep of the weekend tomorrow at 7:05 p.m. when they welcome the Charlotte Checkers for the first of two consecutive matchups.

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.