Gaudette's 37th Goal Not Enough to Top Phantoms

ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- The Springfield Thunderbirds (27-28-3-2) fell victim to some bad luck and a third-period comeback in a 3-1 loss to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (26-24-5-3) on Wednesday night at the PPL Center.

The opening 20 minutes came with a cautious feel for the two squads, as chances were few and far between. Colten Ellis of the T-Birds and Cal Petersen of the Phantoms were able to turn aside those shots that did make their way on goal, as Ellis stopped 10 attempts while Petersen punched away seven Springfield shots. The first frame also came and went without a single penalty on either squad.

Lehigh Valley had a seemingly open net to take a 1-0 lead early in the second period when Phantoms All-Star Samu Tuomaala found himself unmarked for a one-timer from the left side. Ellis, though, lurched out to get a piece with the blocker arm, holding the game scoreless.

With a power play a few minutes later, it appeared the T-Birds had taken a 1-0 lead when Mitchell Hoelscher and Will Bitten created a net-mouth scramble at the side of Petersen's net. On one replay angle, it appeared the puck fully crossed the goal line, but the call was inconclusive on the overhead replay, so no goal was awarded.

To their credit, the T-Birds remained diligent, and on another power play past the midpoint of regulation, Adam Gaudette found a soft spot between multiple Phantom defenders and wristed a perfect shot through Petersen's stick side at 13:17, giving the sharpshooter his AHL-leading 37th of the campaign. 

The one-goal lead proved not to be enough as the game moved into the third. An early Springfield penalty led to a one-time goal from Adam Brooks at the base of the right-wing circle, and at 4:53 of the third, the game was all evened up.

About seven minutes later, the Phantoms took advantage of their surge in momentum, and Evan Polei rifled home just his second goal in 29 games at 11:49 on a one-time feed from Elliot Desnoyers, giving Lehigh Valley its first lead of the night, 2-1. 

From there, the Lehigh Valley defense locked down the T-Birds' attacking zone prospects the rest of the night to the tune of just five shots in the entire final period for the Springfield offense. Tanner Laczynski added an empty-netter with just 2.1 seconds to play to round out the scoring.

The T-Birds now sit three points back of the Phantoms in the division standings. They return home for back-to-back contests on Friday and Saturday night against the Charlotte Checkers and Syracuse Crunch respectively. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m. for both games.

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