SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Springfield Thunderbirds (23-27-6-2) got a three-goal night from their new captain en route to a 6-3 win over the Utica Comets (22-28-5-4) on Saturday night before a sellout crowd of 6,793 inside the MassMutual Center.

The night began under adverse circumstances for Steve Ott's club, as blueline newcomer Wyatt Newpower was lost for the night just 2:26 into the game on a five-minute kneeing major. The Springfield penalty kill answered the bell, and Vadim Zherenko anchored it down between the pipes with five saves over the major power play to keep the game on even terms.

Dylan Peterson furthered the Springfield momentum at 16:16, crashing the net front to chip a backhand rebound past Jakub Malek after an initial Malek save on Akil Thomas. Thomas earned his first point as a T-Bird and Peterson netted his ninth goal of the season to give Springfield the 1-0 edge, which remained into the intermission fter the T-Birds killed a second Utica power play, this time just for two minutes.

Early in the second, the T-Birds earned their first power play chance and took just five seconds to build a two-goal lead as Chris Wagner positioned himself in the low slot and rifled a one-timer over Malek's shoulder to extend the lead to 2-0 just 1:47 into the second period. Just over 10 minutes later, Julien Gauthier gathered a rolling puck in the slot and spun a forehand shot through Malek at 12:02, making it a three-goal game heading into the third. Thomas Bordeleau picked up an assist on the play against his former club.

The Comets, despite the deficit, would not back down in the final period, and Brian Halonen broke up the Zherenko shutout bid at 5:07 of the third with a one-time power play goal to make it 3-1. Jonathan Gruden followed up 3:09 later with a redirection of a Xavier Parent shot to cut the margin to 3-2. After Ott called Springfield's timeout to settle his squad, Wagner came to the forefront again with a clutch shot from the right circle at 11:31 to restore the two-goal advantage, 4-2.

Once again, though, Utica had a response, as Angus Crookshank tipped a shot past Zherenko just 59 seconds later, and the Comets were back within one again, 4-3.

Despite the rocky final frame, the T-Birds survived the threat down the stretch, and Wagner completed his hat trick, extending his career high in goals to 21, finding an empty net at 18:32. Alek Kaskimaki assisted on all three of the captain's goals for the evening. Bordeleau added one more empty-netter at his old team's expense for good measure at 19:16 to round out the scoring.

The T-Birds hit the road for their next three contests, beginning with a Sunday 3:05 p.m. matinee in Providence against the Bruins. 

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).