BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — The Springfield Thunderbirds (30-26-2-4) stumbled on the road and fell to the Bridgeport Islanders (14-40-4-3) by a final score of 4-1 on Saturday inside Total Mortgage Arena.

For a ninth straight game, the T-Birds spotted their opponent a 1-0 lead as 35-year-old Chris Terry cleaned up a rebound off the pads of Vadim Zherenko at 4:36 of the first to give Bridgeport the lead. 

The T-Birds answered back thanks to their red-hot power play at 8:21, as Matthew Peca led a streaking Nikita Alexandrov to the blue paint for a backhander that found its way through Henrik Tikkanen to even the game, 1-1.

Zherenko and Tikkanen dealt with some chaos near their creases early in the second, but the 1-1 tie carried into the midpoint of the game before a costly too-many-men penalty hurt Springfield.

With their first power play of the night, the Islanders struck as Adam Beckman fired a wrister to the top shelf just moments after he clanged one off the post, and Bridgeport had the 2-1 lead at 11:27 of the second.

Beckman was not finished with his exploits either, as the newly-acquired Islanders cashed in on 2-on-1 setup from Brian Pinho at 17:09 to give Bridgeport an insurance tally heading into the third, 3-1.

Cam Thiesing added further to the lead just 1:37 into the third, intercepting a puck in the Springfield zone and backhanding a chance past Zherenko to make it a 4-1 game. Springfield managed only seven shots in the final period, and Tikkanen finished a relatively stress-free night with 21 saves in the Bridgeport win. 

The T-Birds return home on Friday and Saturday for the first-ever matchups on home ice against the Iowa Wild, with 7:05 p.m. puck drops slated for both nights inside the Thunderdome.

Fans can get their Thunderbirds tickets today by calling (413) 739-GOAL (4625) or by visiting www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.