Providence, R.I. – Going into the third and final period of play, the Springfield Thunderbirds trailed the Providence Bruins 3-2, and after 20 more minutes of play the score remained the same as Springfield fell in the first of a home-and-home preseason series to start the series.

The Bruins got started early in the first period, scoring twice in the first ten minutes. The first one came on the power play at 6:32, two seconds after Springfield was called for a hold. The goal came off the stick of Cameron Hughes with assists by forward Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson and former Thunderbirds defenseman Mark Fayne.

The second goal came on an even strength play off the stick of forward Mark McNeill from at 9:35, with an assist for Forsbacka-Karlsson.

In the second period, it took both squads a little longer to score. 17 minutes in, Bruins' forward Zach Senyshyn (assisted by McNeill) scored to give Providence a 3-0. Not even a minute later, Springfield forward Joel Lowry got Springfield on the board with a goal of his own to cut the lead to 3-1. He was assisted by Matt Mangene.

41 seconds later, defenseman Linus Nassen scored off feeds from forwards Sebastian Repo and Harry Zolnierczyk, making it 3-2 late in the second.
Chris Driedger finished with 19 saves on 22 shots and Sam Montembeault finished with three saves on as many shots in the third.

The Thunderbirds are back in action on Sunday at 3:05 p.m. at Mass Mutual Center in Springfield, where they take on Providence in the second of a home-and-home preseason series.