T-Birds Wrap Up 3-in-3 vs. Senators
Springfield, MA– Facing a two-game losing skid for the first time this season, the Springfield Thunderbirds (5-3-1-0) will look to pick up their first win of the weekend on Sunday in a late-afternoon matinee with the Binghamton Senators (2-5-0-1) at the MassMutual Center at 5:05 p.m. ET.
Each team is entering the Sunday matchup coming off of multiple losses. Springfield could not hold a 4-2 third period lead in an eventual 6-4 loss in Allentown to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Saturday. Three Lehigh Valley power play goals, two of which came in the final period, did in the Thunderbirds on a night when Springfield recorded a 3-on-5 shorthanded goal and a power play marker.
The T-Birds unleashed a franchise record 44 shots at the net of Phantoms goaltender Anthony Stolarz, who won his third consecutive start by virtue of a 40-save evening. Reto Berra picked up his first road loss of the season after he was tagged for five goals on 33 Lehigh Valley shots.
Logan Shaw, Jakub Kindl, Paul Thompson, and Tim Bozon all scored on the night for Springfield, with Kindl recording the club's first shorthanded goal in team history on a two-man disadvantage at the 4:26 mark of the second period. Kindl and Bozon each recorded their first goals as Thunderbirds.
With an assist on Thompson's goal, Chase Balisy extended his point streak to four games for the Thunderbirds. That continues to be the longest such streak in the franchise's young history.
The Senators, losers of four straight games, have scuffled since earning points in three of their first four contests. In each of their last four games, all regulation losses, Binghamton has allowed at least four goals in every game.
Boding even worse for the Senators, they have only four goals to their credit in the last three games. Sunday marks the last game of a three-in-three for Binghamton as well, as the Senators are coming off of 4-1 losses each of the last two nights in Wilkes-Barre and at home against Rochester respectively. The Senators' 15 total goals are the lowest total in the Eastern Conference through the season's first eight games.
The Thunderbirds will stay on home ice following the Sunday matchup as they begin a third consecutive three-game weekend on Friday, Nov. 11 against the St. John's IceCaps at the MassMutual Center on Friday at 7:05 p.m. ET. The night marks another $1 Night and Pregame Concert Series presented by MGM Springfield. Tickets are available online at www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.
Interested in being part of the next era of AHL hockey in Springfield? Springfield Thunderbirds Season Ticket Memberships start as low as $12 per game and feature the most exclusive benefits, including a commemorative jersey. For more information, fans may call the Thunderbirds ticket office at (413) 739-GOAL (4625).