Zherenko Shines, Vrana Debuts with Two Points in T-Birds' 4th Straight Win

ALLENTOWN, PA -- The Springfield Thunderbirds (14-8-2-0) rode another superb night from their second-year goaltender to a 4-2 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (11-11-4-0) on Saturday night at PPL Center in Allentown.

Entering the game with the AHL's top power play, the Phantoms took just 35 seconds on the game's first man advantage to strike first, with Cooper Marody snapping a wrist shot through Vadim Zherenko at the 3:23 mark of the opening period. 

The T-Birds' defense was put to the test, as the Lehigh Valley attack registered each of the game's first eight shots over a seven-minute blitz. However, the Springfield offense responded in kind at the 7:19 mark, with Adam Gaudette cashing in on a breakaway, beating Felix Sandstrom on the glove side to make it a 1-1 tie. The goal was Gaudette's 15th of the season, and in his first game with the T-Birds, Jakub Vrana picked up the primary helper. 

Wade Allison had a dangerous chance to put the Phantoms back in front on a mini-breakaway, but Zherenko extended out with the left leg to turn the chance aside, allowing the 1-1 tie to carry into the intermission. After allowing the first eight shots of the game, Springfield had eight of the final nine tries on goal in the opening period.

Springfield vaulted to its first lead of the night off a clean win off a draw at the 6:01 mark. Drew Callin quickly spiked the face-off back to Zach Bolduc, who challenged Sandstrom with a wrister. While Sandstrom made the initial save, the rebound kicked right to Mikhail Abramov, who chipped it over the sprawled goalie to put the T-Birds ahead, 2-1. Abramov picked up his second point of the night with the go-ahead goal after getting the secondary helper on Gaudette's first-period marker.

The Phantoms responded to the go-ahead goal with a strong surge in the closing half of the second, but Zherenko continued to stymie the opposition, including a point-blank stop on Ronnie Attard at the culmination of a lengthy stretch of offensive zone time by Lehigh Valley. Zherenko had 20 saves through two periods.

Early in the third, the Phantoms got themselves into hot water in the penalty box, setting up the T-Birds with two separate 5-on-3 advantages. Dylan Coghlan made Lehigh Valley pay when he wristed a shot through Sandstrom at the 3:01 mark of the final stanza, getting his AHL-leading ninth goal on defense and boosting the lead to 3-1. Vrana picked up his second primary helper on the night on the set-up.

From there, Zherenko was the star of the show, as he denied 14 of the 15 Lehigh Valley shots that came his way in the third period alone to finish his night with a 34-save victory. Over his last five starts, Zherenko is a perfect 5-0 while stopping 160 of 168 shots.

After assisting on the Abramov goal, Drew Callin was rewarded for a strong defensive night when he flipped a loose puck into an empty net with 2:07 to play. J-R Avon got one back for the Phantoms, but it was far too late for the Phantoms to avoid a third straight loss to Springfield.

The T-Birds look to complete a perfect week when they visit the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. at the Giant Center. 

Fans can reserve their seats to be a part of the Thunderbirds’ hockey action for the 2023-24 season by calling (413)-739-GOAL (4625) or visiting www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.