T-Birds Grounded By Late Sens Goal

Springfield, MA– In a game where goals were difficult to manufacture, the Springfield Thunderbirds (5-4-1-0)  once again succumbed to third-period heroics on the part of the Binghamton Senators (3-5-0-1) at the MassMutual Center on Sunday, as the Senators skated off with a 2-1 victory.

 

With each team playing their third game in the span of three nights, the Thunderbirds again could not find the net in the opening period. Springfield has yet to score a goal in the opening ten minutes of any of their five home games in the 2016-17 season.

 

As a result, the Senators broke the ice in the middle stages of the first period on a strange bounce. Mike Kostka's point shot was turned to the end glass by Thunderbirds starting goaltender by Mike McKenna,only to have the puck careen to the slot, where Mike Blunden batted it in out of mid-air at 8:20 to give the Senators the 1-0 lead.

 

A choppily-paced game remained 1-0 until the midway point of period two, when Ian McCoshen took a pass from Dryden Hunt at the left point and fired a wrist shot wide of the net on purpose. However, the purposely wide shot turned out to be the best shot for McCoshen, as the puck skipped off the stick of Binghamton goaltender Chris Driedger and into the net to make it a 1-1 game at 10:06 of the period.

 

From there, Sena Acolatse tried to inject more energy into the MassMutual Center as he dropped the gloves with Ben Harpur after a hard hit on Senators forward Kyle Flanagan. The heated match went into the final five minutes of the third period tied. Off a face-off at the 15:56 mark, Max McCormick snapped a quick shot that eluded McKenna and provided the game-winning tally for a Senators club that snapped a four-game losing skid.

 

The Thunderbirds are now 0-2-1 in their last three games, and Springfield has been outscored 6-0 in third periods in the past three contests. The Thunderbirds will stay on home ice following the Sunday matchup as they begin a third consecutive three-game weekend on Friday, Nov. 11 against the St. John's IceCaps at the MassMutual Center on Friday at 7:05 p.m. ET. The night marks another $1 Night and Pregame Concert Series presented by MGM Springfield. Tickets are available online at www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.

 

Interested in being part of the next era of AHL hockey in Springfield? Springfield Thunderbirds Season Ticket Memberships start as low as $12 per game and feature the most exclusive benefits, including a commemorative jersey. For more information, fans may call the Thunderbirds ticket office at (413) 739-GOAL (4625).