T-BIRDS VISIT BEARS TO CLOSE SEASON SERIES WEDNESDAY
Mar 12, 2019HERSHEY, Pa. - The Springfield Thunderbirds (26-24-7-5) continue a pivotal four-game road trip on Wednesday night as they pay a visit to the Hershey Bears (33-22-2-4) inside the Giant Center. The Thunderbirds will look for a season series victory over their division foes, having won three of the prior five meetings.
Entering Wednesday night's action, the Thunderbirds sit at 64 points, seven behind the fourth playoff spot, held by the Providence Bruins. Of Springfield's final 14 games, 10 of those contests will come against Atlantic Division opponents.
The Bears got the better of the Thunderbirds in the clubs' last meeting on Feb. 6 in Springfield, as Hershey skated away with a 4-2 win to break a personal three-game losing streak against the T-Birds. The two teams split the two previous meetings in Hershey, with the Bears holding on for a 3-2 win on Nov. 10 before Springfield returned the favor in a 4-2 victory on Dec. 1.
Thunderbirds All-Star winger Anthony Greco has been Hershey's kryptonite in this year's season series, scoring five goals in five games against the Bears. Greco has tallied goals in three of his last four games overall, including his third game-winning tally of the season in Sunday's 3-1 win in Providence.
The Bears have earned points in four of their last five contests, but have only win to show for that stretch, going 1-1-2-1 dating back to the beginning of March. Riley Barber has led the way for Hershey in the season series with Springfield, tallying five points in five games against the T-Birds. Ilya Samsonov has been the winning goaltender in each of Hershey's two wins over Springfield, while Vitek Vanecek has struggled, going 0-2 with eight goals allowed in just 84 minutes of action against the T-Birds.
From Hershey, the Thunderbirds' four-game swing continues on Friday night in the final regular season matchup against the Utica Comets inside the Adirondack Bank Center at 7:00 p.m.
The Thunderbirds' next home game is set for Friday, March 22 against the Binghamton Devils on another 3-2-1 Friday inside the MassMutual Center.
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).