SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Springfield Thunderbirds (2-8-1-1) put forth a tenacious defensive effort and held off the Laval Rocket (8-5-0-0) for a 3-1 win on Wednesday morning inside a sold-out MassMutual Center during the annual T-Birds School Day Game.

A free-flowing and consistent first period effort from the T-Birds earned a reward at 14:20 as Nikita Alexandrov weaved around a check at the offensive blue line and chipped a forehander over the shoulder of Jacob Fowler to give the T-Birds the 1-0 advantage. Steve Konowalchuk's team outpaced Laval on the shot counter, 9-7 in the opening 20 minutes, with Vadim Zherenko turning away each of the seven offerings that came his way.

Zherenko and Fowler were not overly challenged in a quiet second period that saw just 13 combined shots on net despite two power plays for Springfield and one for Laval.

The T-Birds' penalty kill kept rising to the occasion as the game flipped to the third, and Laval was unable to strike despite a two-minute advantage to open the frame. Hugh McGing finally got Springfield some insurance at 10:48 of the third, as he cashed a 2-on-1 pass from Nikita Susuev over Fowler's shoulder to make it a 2-0 game.

The victory still would not come easy for the T-Birds, as Laval battled back to a 2-1 score when Luke Tuch tallied his first of the season just 1:08 after the McGing goal. 

McGing's busy day continued as he dropped the gloves with Tuch at the 15:51 mark after Tuch delivered a crunching hit to Otto Stenberg by the Springfield bench. The T-Birds rallied around their veteran leader and killed off the ensuing Laval power play before getting a Matt Luff empty-netter to seal up the win. 

Zherenko's outstanding night finished with 24 stops to preserve the win, while Fowler fell for only the third time this season, stopping 23 in defeat for the Rocket.

Five of the T-Birds' next six games come on the road, beginning with a 7:05 p.m. puck drop on Friday in Allentown against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at the PPL Center.

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).