HARTFORD, Conn. - The Springfield Thunderbirds (31-32-6-2) stumbled down the stretch and let a lead slip away in a 7-5 loss to the Hartford Wolf Pack (26-37-5-3) on Friday night inside PeoplesBank Arena.

For the second time in the last six days, the Wolf Pack successfully broke the ice against their I-91 rivals as veteran Trey Fix-Wolansky netted his 29th of the year on a five-hole forehander through Vadim Zherenko at 14:14 of the opening period. 

At the other end, after a 36-save gem in the last meeting, Callum Tung picked up where he left off with an impressive post-to-post skate save on Alek Kaskimaki in the opening minutes as part of a 10-save first period.

As he did last Saturday, Hugh McGing became the first T-Bird to solve Tung at 16:38 of the period just as a Springfield power play expired, as the veteran winger chipped a rebound into the top shelf over a fallen Tung to tie the game, 1-1, heading into the intermission.

Springfield came flying out of the locker room for period two, with Simon Robertsson cashing in for just his second goal of the season at 1:50 of the frame, one-timing a snap shot past Tung off a set-up from Juraj Pekarcik. 

However, the Wolf Pack refused to back off, and Fix-Wolansky's second goal at 8:32 -- a sensational individual effort to split two Springfield defenders -- tied the score, 2-2.

The game appeared to flip to the T-Birds' favor for good when an Anton Blidh double-minor for high-sticking opened the door for two Springfield power play strikes. First, it was Kaskimaki one-timing a pass from Dillon Dube past Tung at 13:37 for his 20th of the season. Then Akil Thomas joined the fun, coasting down the slot and ripping a wrist shot past Tung at 15:18. 

For good measure, McGing added his second of the night with just 12.9 seconds remaining in the period when he banked a backhand centering pass off Tung's legs to give Springfield a 5-2 advantage.

However, things would unravel in a hurry for the visitors in the final period. An opening minute penalty set the stage for rookie Brody Lamb to tuck a backhand rebound behind Zherenko just 35 seconds into the period to make it 5-3. 

Less than three minutes later, a failed clear allowed Scott Morrow to dance down the slot and set up Kyle Jackson for a one-time finish at 3:12 to cut the margin to 5-4. Hartford captain Casey Fitzgerald then flung a seeing-eye wrister home past Zherenko at 7:43, getting the Wolf Pack equalized, 5-5. 

Though the T-Birds kept the defensive zone quiet for the next eight minutes, offense was nearly impossible to come by for Springfield in the third, as they managed just one shot throughout the final 20 minutes.

Rookie Carey Terrance finally fired the knockout blow for Hartford when he squeezed a sharp-angle shot through Zherenko with 4:30 remaining to give the Wolf Pack the 6-5 lead, and Fix-Wolansky capped off a five-point night with an empty-netter for insurance with just over a minute to play. 

The T-Birds' regular season concludes with one more meeting on home ice on Saturday against the Wolf Pack; puck drop is set for 6:05 p.m. at the Thunderdome, with the Community Bank N.A. Block Party kicking off at 3:00 p.m. at The Landing, across from the MassMutual Center box office.

Thunderbirds' Pay As We Play playoff plans are available now for no upfront cost. In addition, 2026-27 season tickets are available now - fans can order now by visiting www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com or by calling (413) 739-GOAL (4625).