SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Springfield Thunderbirds (13-15-4-2) were snakebitten by a three-goal third period rally as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (19-11-2-2) came away with a 3-2 win on Saturday night before a sellout crowd of 6,793 inside the MassMutual Center on Indians Throwback Night.

Entering the game having allowed only two total goals in their prior three victories, the Phantoms and their netminder, Carson Bjarnason, made it clear goals would not come easily for the T-Birds, as the rookie backstop turned away all 10 first period attempts from the home side.

At the other end of the rink, Georgi Romanov had a relatively quiet first period, making all seven saves asked of him in the Springfield crease. Neither team could connect on a power play chance, and each goalie came up with a timely save off an odd-man attack, with Romanov stoning a Phil Tomasino 2-on-1 bid and Bjarnason rejecting a Juraj Pekarcik breakaway.

The T-Birds' power play wasted little time getting to the lead in the opening minute of the second, as Calle Rosen gathered a pass from Matthew Peca at the top of the left circle and picked the top corner over Bjarnason's glove to make it a 1-0 Springfield lead just 52 seconds into the frame.

That same man-up unit added to their tally at 16:53 on a gorgeous three-man passing play, as Alek Kaskimaki slid a pass to Chris Wagner at the left post. From there, Wagner stuffed a perfect between-the-leg pass over to Matt Luff, who fired home his team-leading 12th goal to make it a 2-0 game into the intermission. 

The third period began at 4-on-4, and the Phantoms finally got on the board as Lane Pederson curled to the middle of the ice before snapping a perfect shot upstairs over Romanov at the 27-second mark, cutting the Springfield lead to 2-1. On a power play just 2:40 later, Christian Kyrou dissected the T-Birds' defense and chipped a forehand over Romanov's glove, bringing Lehigh to a rapid tie, 2-2. 

The 2-2 tie made it all the way to the game's final seconds, but a bad-angle shot from Anthony Richard at the bottom of the left circle somehow found its way home with 11.9 remaining, and Lehigh Valley escaped with the victory.

The T-Birds head south next week for a second set of back-to-back games in less than a month against the Charlotte Checkers. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday from Bojangles Coliseum. 

Single-game tickets and ticket memberships for all remaining games in the Thunderbirds' 2025-26 season are available now - fans can order now by visiting www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com or by calling (413) 739-GOAL (4625).