SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Springfield Thunderbirds (15-14-1-0) wrap up the pre-Christmas portion of their December schedule this weekend with three games in total, beginning on home ice Friday against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (11-15-3-1) at 7:05 p.m. From there, the T-Birds visit the Hershey Bears (14-9-2-3) for a pair of games on Saturday and Sunday at 7:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. respectively inside the Giant Center.

The T-Birds will look to bounce back from a tough finish to their last three-in-three weekend, falling 5-4 in overtime on Saturday and 5-0 on Sunday against the Providence Bruins. Despite the rocky finish to the weekend, Springfield still finds itself right in contention in the tight Atlantic Division race, sitting just two points back of third place and one point back of fourth in the jockeying for playoff positioning.

Springfield and Providence have split the first four games of their 14-game season series, with the T-Birds winning the first two games and Providence taking the last two. Offensively, Owen Tippett continues to pace the T-Birds in a number of statistical categories, including goals (11), points (23), and power-play goals (5).

The T-Birds will look to button up defensively, having allowed three or more goals in their last five games after they had been the leading AHL team in goals against per game through the month of November. Despite seeing his goals-against average rise over 3.00, Philippe Desrosiers still finds himself among the AHL's league leaders in save percentage at .922.

Springfield will also have a new skater on the forward lines as Ryan Haggerty joins the club after being acquired from the Penguins earlier this week in a trade for Kevin Roy. Haggerty has tallied three goals so far this season after potting a career-high 23 with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton a season ago.

Friday night at the MassMutual Center is another 3-2-1 Friday with the MGM Springfield Pregame Concert Series beginning at 6:00 p.m. It is also Star Wars Night at the Thunderdome with appearances by storm troopers and Darth Vader for pictures on the concourse.

For more ticket information or to become a 2019-20 Springfield Thunderbirds ticket package member, or to purchase single game tickets, call (413) 739-GOAL (4625) or visit www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.