SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Springfield Thunderbirds (4-4-2-1) erased a two-goal first period deficit to topple the Hershey Bears (7-5-0-0) by a 4-2 score on Friday night inside the MassMutual Center.

Springfield came out with a purpose and kept Hershey goaltender Cal Petersen busy in an 11-shot first period output, whereas the Bears managed just five attempts on goal in 20 minutes.

Despite that discrepancy, it was a familiar enemy who got Hershey the initial strikes, as former Hartford Wolf Pack captain Jonny Brodzinski rifled home a top-shelf forehander off the rush at 9:16 off a slick backhand dish from Lynden Lakovic, beat Georgii Romanov over the glove. 

Just 1:27 later, off a faceoff, Brodzinski was in the middle of things again, finding a soft space in the low slot to receive a reaching touch feed from Lakovic before snapping a wrister past Romanov's blocker at 10:43, extending the Hershey lead to 2-0. 

The Bears had a chance to bolster the lead further, but the Springfield penalty kill held serve to maintain the two-goal margin heading into the middle frame.

Quinton Burns helped change the tide early in the second, dropping the mitts against former T-Bird Sam Bitten, with Bitten picking up a two-minute instigator, leading to a Springfield power play.

From there, the T-Birds lit their offensive fuse, beginning when Chris Wagner hit Otto Stenberg across the crease for a tap-in at 5:07 on the man advantage, cutting the margin to 2-1.

The Bears power play had a chance to restore their lead, but Springfield's shorthanded mastery continued with Oskar Sundqvist snapping a right-circle shot over Petersen's glove after heads-up pass off the break from Calle Rosen, tying the game, 2-2. Sundqvist's tally was his league-leading third shorthanded marker and Springfield's fifth as a team.

With the teams skating 4-on-4 five minutes later, it was Rosen's turn to strike, as he blistered a one-timer over Petersen at 12:37, giving Springfield its first lead of the night.

The 3-2 lead carried into the third, and Romanov had to earn the Springfield win. After managing just nine shots in the first two periods, the Bears uncorked 17 offerings at the T-Birds goalie in the third, but the Springfield backstop did not cave. With the net empty for Hershey on a 6-on-4 at 17:51, a Romanov save careened right to Nathan Walker, who whistled the loose puck all the way down and into the empty net for his fifth goal in the last three games, sealing the 4-2 win. 

The two division rivals square off once again on Saturday at 6:05 p.m. inside the Thunderdome to complete a two-game weekend series.

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).