T-Birds Close Road Slate @ Phantoms

Allentown, PA- The Springfield Thunderbirds (29-32-9-2) will hop on the ice on Saturday night to close their road schedule against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (44-23-5-0) at the PPL Center for a 7:05 p.m. ET puck drop. 

Both teams will be trying to regroup from defeats on Friday night. The Phantoms were shut out on their home ice for the second time in less than a month and the third time overall by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins by a final score of 3-0. Lehigh Valley can clinch a berth in the Calder Cup playoffs with a win along with a Hershey Bears regulation loss. The Phantoms have scored 10 goals in just two home games against Springfield this season, including a 4-2 win on Opening Night on Oct. 15.

Springfield, meanwhile, will look to bounce back defensively after seeing two separate leads slip away in a see-saw, 4-3 loss in Hartford on Friday against the Wolf Pack. Eddie Wittchow, Tim Bozon, and Chase Balisy all tallied even strength goals for Springfield, while Anthony Greco extended his latest point streak to four games with an assist.

The Thunderbirds and Phantoms have met twice in the last five weeks in Springfield, with the two clubs splitting the contests. Springfield put up four goals in the second period of an eventual 5-3 win on Feb. 24, while Lehigh Valley exacted some revenge with a 5-4 escape on March 3. Former Springfield Falcon Greg Carey leads the vaunted Phantoms power play (20.9%, 6th in AHL) with 17 man advantage goals, five of which have come against the Thunderbirds.

Lehigh Valley has scored at least three goals in each of the clubs' five prior meetings, and the Phantoms hold a 4-1-0-0 record in the season series. They chased Adam Wilcox from the crease in his Springfield debut on March 3, potting five goals on the former Syracuse Crunch netminder before the midway point of the third period.

Since that night though, WIlcox's acquisition has been tremendous for the Thunderbirds, logging two shutouts and posting a 2.02 goals against average to go along with a .932 save percentage.

With the road slate complete tonight, the Thunderbirds will return home to Springfield to close the campaign with home ice tilts on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday against Providence, Bridgeport, and Hartford respectively. All games will drop the puck at 7:05 p.m. ET.

Interested in becoming a part of the next era of professional hockey in Springfield? Earn your wings with Springfield Thunderbirds 2017-18 Ticket Memberships, which start as low as $12 per game and feature the most exclusive benefits, including a commemorative jersey and brand new Collectors Mug. For more information, fans may call the Thunderbirds ticket office at (413) 739-GOAL (4625) or visit www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.