SPRINGFIELD, Mass - The Springfield Thunderbirds (20-25-5-2) could not muster enough offense to support a spectacular night from their goaltender, as they fell in overtime, 3-2, to the Charlotte Checkers (30-17-4-0) on Friday night in the first of back-to-back meetings inside the MassMutual Center.

Steve Ott's club did not take long to set the tone on the scoreboard, as Zach Dean connected with a perfectly-placed 2-on-1 shot from the left circle at 1:47 of the first, beating Cooper Black up high to give Springfield the 1-0 lead on Dean's 3rd of the season. Dillon Dube extended his point streak to five consecutive games with the primary helper.

Vadim Zherenko was plenty busy in the opening period and answered all 18 tests he faced, which included a stretch of 1:15 with his team down two men in the closing minute of the period. 

The T-Birds' penalty kill went a perfect 4-for-4 through 40 minutes, but Mikulas Hovorka would get Charlotte the equalizer at 3:25 of the second, picking up a puck off the end boards and jabbing it into an open net past a diving Zherenko. 

After the two clubs traded penalties less than two minutes apart, the T-Birds inherited a power play at 13:24 of the period, and after Quinton Burns and Hunter Skinner worked the puck toward the low slot, Thomas Bordeleau was in a fortuitous spot, punching a snapper through Black and restoring the Springfield lead on a power-play goal, 2-1. 

Special teams continued to be busy for both teams as the game stretched into the third, with Springfield's penalty kill dispatching a fifth Charlotte power play just before the midpoint of the third to hold the 2-1 score. Eventually, though, Charlotte's persistent pressure paid off, as Nate Smith rifled a shot through Zherenko at 14:10 of the final period off a slick pass from Nolan Foote, and the game was deadlocked, 2-2.

Moments later, things got dicey for the T-Birds when Leo Loof was whistled for a five-minute boarding major. Still, the Springfield penalty kill would not yield, drawing a penalty and killing off the remaining three minutes to allow the game to get to overtime and earn the T-Birds an all-important point in the standings. 

Playing in his T-Birds debut, Julien Gauthier nearly lifted the roof off the Thunderdome with a coast-to-coast net drive in the opening sequence of overtime, but Black came up with a lurching skate save to keep the game going. Eamon Powell rewarded his goaltender when he snapped a shot from the right circle through Zherenko at 2:13 of the extra frame to give Charlotte the extra point. The Springfield netminder took the hard-luck defeat despite a splendid 43-save performance, while Black denied 25 of 27 to improve to a perfect 5-0-0 record against the T-Birds this season.

The two clubs rematch on Saturday night for Military Appreciation Night, with puck drop set for 7:05 p.m. inside the Thunderdome.

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).