T-Birds Battle Hard, But Can't Overcome First-Period Hole in Hershey

HERSHEY, Pa. - The Springfield Thunderbirds (15-15-1-4) became the latest victims of the first-period exploits of the Hershey Bears (24-8-3-1), falling 5-3 inside the Giant Center on Friday night.

After coughing up the first three goals in their loss to the Penguins on Wednesday, the Bears began the first period on Friday night with a thorn in their sides, and the Thunderbirds were on the receiving end of an onslaught of shots. Hershey's first-period totals included 18 shots to Springfield's four, and even though Joel Hofer denied 15 minutes worth of attack, the final five proved deadly to the visitors.

Joe Snively broke the stalemate with his first AHL goal of the season off a left-wing rush at 15:03. The veteran winger has now generated points in 16 straight home games inside Giant Center. 

Just 1:19 later, Beck Malenstyn joined in the fun, pressuring the puck all the way toward the goal mouth before swatting a rolling puck through Hofer on the glove side at 16:22 for his second goal of the season, upping the Hershey lead to 2-0.

At 18:02, the Bears' top line joined the scoring fun as former Thunderbird Mike Sgarbossa fed Logan Day at the right point, whose shot deflected off a defender right to the feet of Ethen Frank. The Bears' All-Star rookie deposited the loose puck into the upper corner, his 14th of the season, to make it 3-0, completing a three-goal surge in just 2:59 of game time. Hershey has now outscored its opposition 43-22 in first periods this season. 

Neither team was able to generate much of anything offensively through about 15 minutes of period two, as the two clubs each managed just two shots on goal in that time. The game's tone changed when Riley Sutter received a game misconduct and a five-minute match penalty for a hit to the head of Greg Printz. Just 28 seconds into a five-minute power play, Brady Lyle cranked a one-time missile past Zach Fucale off setups by Martin Frk and Matthew Peca at 14:59. Peca's assist marked his first point on the same night he made his season debut coming back from offseason surgery.

Springfield registered six shots in the final six minutes of the period, but Fucale and the Hershey penalty kill held up to keep the T-Birds' damage to just the Lyle tally.

Frank then restored the three-goal lead for Hershey just 1:01 into the third, as he sneaked behind a Springfield defender before roofing a shot over Hofer's glove to make the lead 4-1. 

To their credit, the T-Birds power play kept clawing, as Peca found Mathias Laferriere in the slot area, and the second-year man beat Fucale on the glove side at 3:24, cutting the lead back down to 4-2.

A split-second defensive play potentially saved the Bears on a power play with less than seven minutes to play, as Will Bitten and Tommy Cross tried to work a shorthanded rush. Cross was on the verge of getting in alone on Fucale before a diving reach by a Hershey defender knocked the puck to center ice. On an ensuing odd-man rush, former T-Bird Henrik Borgstrom slipped a Garrett Pilon pass under Hofer's legs to restore the three-goal lead, 5-2, at 13:38.

One more time, the T-Birds did not mail it in, as Bitten swatted a Lyle rebound out of mid-air to cut the deficit to 5-3 at 14:40, but that's as close as Springfield would get. 

The T-Birds and Bears rematch on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. inside the Giant Center as Springfield looks to earn the weekend split.

Thunderbirds fans can reserve their seats for the 2022-23 season and lock in the best prices and member benefits by calling (413) 739-GOAL (4625) or visiting www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.