HERSHEY, PA - The Springfield Thunderbirds (4-8-0-0) broke out to a two-goal lead, but could not hold off the defending champion Hershey Bears (8-3-1-0) at the Giant Center on Saturday night in a 3-2 defeat.

Looking to bounce back after getting bested by the Bears two weeks earlier, T-Birds goaltender Vadim Zherenko was stellar in the opening period, denying 17 Hershey attempts. There were a pair of A-plus stops in the mix, as Zherenko stonewalled Aaron Ness on a post-to-post save in the splits. Later in the frame, Zherenko held his ground at the edge of the paint with the left pad and skated to prevent Riley Sutter from a tally in close. 

At the other end, the T-Birds rewarded their goaltender's efforts at 13:15 with a 1-0 lead. Marcus Sylvegard arrived on the forecheck and delivered a firm hit behind the Hershey goal to take the puck away. He backhanded a pass in front to a crashing Dalibor Dvorsky. While the rookie's shot did not find the net, it did squeak behind Bears goalie Hunter Shepard far enough that Aleksanteri Kaskimaki had a tap-in from the goal line. Kaskimaki's second goal in as many games proved to be the only goal in the period, as the T-Birds fended off a late Hershey man advantage to keep the lead in tow heading into the first intermission.

Springfield's young line picked up where they left off just 1:26 into the second as Sylvegard worked his way into the slot, received a Michael Buchinger pass, and snapped a shot through Shepard's glove side to make it a 2-0 lead for Springfield. Dvorsky picked up his second assist of the night on the second T-Birds goal of the evening. 

The pesky Bears would not go down easy, though, and less than three minutes after the Sylvegard goal, Brennan Saulnier capitalized on a turnover in neutral ice, moving up the left side on an odd-man attack and writing the puck over Zherenko's glove at 4:17 to make it a 2-1 game. 

Though Hershey would only register seven shots in the middle frame, they were opportunistic, as another giveaway in neutral ice sprung Henrik Rybinski on a 2-on-1, and the centerman rifled a shot off the underside of the crossbar behind Zherenko to tie the game at 7:30 of the middle period, 2-2. 

Springfield killed off a second Hershey power play in the third, but the offense could not find a way to dent Shepard as the game went into the final five minutes still tied, 2-2.

With 3:27 remaining, Hershey got a stunning tie-breaking tally when Ethan Bear carried the puck around the T-Birds net to the left side and threw a puck toward the feet of Zherenko. The puck wound up careening off of the netminder's pad and sneaked in behind the goal line to give the Bears their first and only lead of the night.

Zherenko finished with 27 saves in the Springfield net, while Shepard finished with 23 saves for his seventh win of the season and seventh career triumph over the T-Birds.

The two clubs meet on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. for a rematch inside the Giant Center to close the Hershey leg of the season series. 

The T-Birds return to home ice on Friday, Nov. 15 when they host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Fans can now secure tickets by calling (413) 739-4625 or visiting www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.