HARTFORD, Conn. – The Springfield Thunderbirds (4-6-2-3) once again erased a third-period road deficit, but once again came up just short in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Hartford Wolf Pack (9-8-1-0) on Saturday night at PeoplesBank Arena.

The T-Birds come back home when they take to the ice against the Charlotte Checkers on Friday, Nov. 20 at the Thunderdome, with puck drop set for 7:05 p.m.

It was another ominous beginning for the T-Birds, as for a seventh straight game, their opponent opened the scoring. This time, it took Hartford just 37 seconds as Justin Dowling intercepted a breakout pass before neatly setting up Nathan Aspinall in the low slot. Aspinall calmly deked to his backhand and lifted the try past Will Cranley to give Hartford the 1-0 lead on the game's first shot.

That early dent proved to be the only blemish on Cranley's body of work in the first frame, as he rebounded to turn away 10 Wolf Pack shots in the final 19 minutes. Meanwhile, Springfield's offense capitalized on a 2-on-1 to even the slate as Zach Dean fired a forehand wrister through Callum Tung's legs, tying the score at 5:42. 

Cranley proved pivotal as the first period rolled along, as the young backstop bounced back from the early Aspinall goal to rattle off 10 straight saves to keep the score tied into the second period.

Tung and Cranley were not tested as frequently in the middle period, but the two goalies combined for a dozen saves, while three power plays between the clubs came and went without success. 

The T-Birds found themselves in a familiar scenario just 30 seconds into the third as Hartford got an early go-ahead marker when Anton Blidh batted a puck off Cranley and in to give the Wolf Pack a 2-1 advantage.

Like their first period response, the T-Birds scratched across another equalizer at 6:50 of the third, this time on the power play. Jack Finley found himself in the right place at the right time, as he arrived to a Justin Carbonneau rebound to punch it past Tung and tie the score, 2-2.

With Tung and Cranley locked in for the rest of regulation, the T-Birds found themselves in their sixth overtime game out of their first 15 contests. Springfield controlled puck possession for nearly the entire 3-on-3 period, but Tung again raised his level to turn away three T-Birds attempts. 

The shootout yielded an identical outcome to Friday in Providence, with Otto Stenberg scoring in the opening round to answer a Hartford goal from Justin Dowling. Taylor Raddysh gave Hartford the 2-1 edge in the shootout with a goal to begin round two, but Tung shut down both Dean and Nathan Walker to earn the extra point for the Wolf Pack.

The T-Birds return home for another matchup with the Charlotte Checkers on Friday night, with a 7:05 p.m. puck drop slated between the division foes inside the Thunderdome. 

2026-27 T-Birds season memberships and individual game tickets are on sale now. Reserve your seats at SpringfieldThunderbirds.com or call (413) 739-GOAL (4625).