SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Springfield Thunderbirds took the Providence Bruins to extra time before falling by a final score of 4-3 on Friday night inside the MassMutual Center in preseason action.
After succumbing to a slow start on Wednesday in their preseason debut, the Thunderbirds came out with a much more intense start on Friday, tallying 10 of the game's first 11 shots and taking the lead in the game in the process. As captain Paul Thompson moved down the right wing, he slammed on the brakes and slid a backhand pass into the slot area. Newcomer Daniel Audette arrived at just that moment to re-direct the feed over the shoulder of Dan Vladar to make it 1-0 at 8:07 of the first.
Springfield failed to connect on the first and only power play of the opening period, but they would add to their lead in the closing minutes of the first 20 minutes. This time, rookies Matthew Wedman and Greg Meireles did the work on the forecheck, with Wedman digging the puck off the end boards and feeding Meireles in front. Meireles' shot bounded off a Bruin's skate, but the third member of the line, Matt Marcinew, found himself in the perfect spot to slam home the rebound at point-blank range. The T-Birds made it 2-0 at 18:36, and maintained a 17-6 shot advantage through 20 minutes.
The Bruins flipped the script in the middle period, outshooting Springfield 18-7 and scoring three times themselves to take the lead into the third. Jakob Lauko began the streak with a breakaway tally at 4:34. Cooper Zech tied the game at 8:50 with a wrister from the left point, and then Tommy Marchin cashed in with a power play finish right beside the net at 13:53 to bring Providence all the way back.
Philippe Desrosiers got the start in net for Springfield and finished with 31 saves. In the final period, Wedman energized his teammates after dropping the mitts with Lauko and firing up the MassMutual Center crowd. Moments later, Thompson took a feed from Audette on the left wing, cut to the slot and beat Vladar off the inside of the post to tie the score, 3-3.
Springfield had a golden opportunity to take victory in regulation, but the Bruins killed off over a minute of two-man disadvantage time to force the game into overtime. From there, Lauko ended the night with his second goal, a wrister from the left circle that eluded Desrosiers.