3-in-3 Begins vs. BNG Friday

Mar 21, 2019

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -  The Springfield Thunderbirds (27-26-7-5) will begin their tenth 3-in-3 weekend of the season on Friday, March 22 when the Binghamton Devils (24-35-6-0) make their way to the MassMutual Center for a 7:05 p.m. puck drop. The Laval Rocket (26-27-6-5) will be in Springfield on Saturday before the T-Birds travel to Pennsylvania on Sunday to take on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (30-24-6-3) as they finish up the three-game weekend at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.

 

The Thunderbirds will be looking to find their third straight win over the Devils this season as they begin play on Friday night. Five different T-Birds found the back of the net in early December to take down the Devils, 5-1. The Thunderbirds again came away the victors on March 8 after a third period comeback gave them the 3-2 win. The Devils went into the third period up 2-1 until a Paul Thompson power play goal gridlocked the matchup. Sebastian Repo secured the win getting one past Binghamton goaltender Evan Cormier at 15:23.

 

Thompson has picked up a goal in both wins over the Devils this season. The Thunderbirds power play went 3-for-6 in early December and were a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill. In the March meeting, the T-Birds capitalized on one of four power play opportunities and again went 5-for-5 on the kill.

 

Springfield will stay home for a second matchup on Saturday night where they look to pick up their third win this season against the Rocket. This is the teams’ first meeting since January 21 when the Thunderbirds fell in overtime, 4-3 and took their first and only loss of the season to Laval. Xavier Ouellet scored the OT winner at 4:16 in the extra stanza helping his teammates to their first win over the Thunderbirds in their history.

 

Anthony Greco helped the Thunderbirds to their back-to-back wins on October 19-20 with a goal and an assist in each game. Thompson also has two goals this season against Laval.

 

As the Thunderbirds hit the road on Sunday, they will be looking to close out the 3-on-3 weekend with a win over Atlantic division foes, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The Thunderbirds have lost three of four matchups with the Penguins this season, with two coming in a shootout.

 

Springfield picked up its lone win over the Penguins in overtime on November 23, making that their third consecutive home win. Harry Zolnierczyk (1g, 3a) and Thompson (3g, 1a) each have four points against the Penguins this season. Ethan Prow leads the Penguins in goals against the Thunderbirds with two. In the Penguins’ net, Tristan Jarry sits third among all AHL netminders in saves with 1,134 this season.

 

Springfield Thunderbirds 2019-2020 ticket memberships are on sale now and include the best benefits of being a Thunderbirds ticket holder. To learn more about memberships and single game tickets, visit www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com or call (413) 739-GOAL (4625).