Springfield, MA– The Springfield Thunderbirds (7-4-1-0) look to complete a three-game weekend sweep of their schedule as they host the Rochester Americans (6-6-0-0) for a 3:05 p.m. ET matinee at the MassMutual Center on Sunday.

 

The Thunderbirds have leaned on sturdy goaltending from Reto Berra to take their first two games of the weekend by a combined score of 7-1. Berra has stopped 51 of 52 shots against St. John's and Binghamton, with his only blemish coming on a meaningless goal in the final 1:21 by IceCaps forward Stefan Matteau on Friday.

 

Berra improved to 5-2-0 with the wins, and in his five victories, Berra has astoundingly given up just two goals, both in the final minutes of games in which Springfield had multiple-goal leads. The 29-year-old netminder sits in a tie for third in the AHL with a .934 save percentage and third in the league with a 1.72 goals-against average.

 

Offensively, the Thunderbirds have rediscovered their attack thanks to an improving power play that has scored goals in four of the last five games, including each of the last two games. On Friday and Saturday, the Thunderbirds took advantage of their first power play chance of the night to jump to early leads. The Thunderbirds are now 5-1-0-0 when scoring the game's first goal.

 

Paul Thompson and Logan Shaw lead the way with four goals each for Springfield, while both Jakub Kindl (three assists) and Brent Regner (two assists) provided multi-point performances in the 4-0 win over Binghamton on Saturday. 

 

Springfield sits in fourth place in the Atlantic Division, tied in points with Hershey and Lehigh Valley and just one point back of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Rochester, meanwhile sits five points back of first-place Toronto in the North Division. The Americans are coming off a 7-2 crushing defeat in Syracuse against the Crunch.

With the last of three consecutive three-game weekends nearing its conclusion, the Thunderbirds will next prepare for a three-game week that features a Wednesday night tilt in Hartford against the Wolf Pack. From there, the Thunderbirds visit the Utica Comets on Friday before returning home for the first matchup of the season with the Providence Bruins on Saturday, Nov. 19. The night marks a doubleheader featuring a special game involving the Boston Bruins Alumni Team. 

 

Fans can get into both the Bruins Alumni game and the Thunderbirds game with a purchase of a Thunderbirds game ticket. Packages are available by visiting www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.

 

Interested in being part of the next era of AHL hockey in Springfield? Springfield Thunderbirds Season Ticket Memberships start as low as $12 per game and feature the most exclusive benefits, including a commemorative jersey. For more information, fans may call the Thunderbirds ticket office at (413) 739-GOAL (4625).