T-Birds Drop Regular Season Finale in Providence

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -  The Springfield Thunderbirds (38-26-3-5, 84 points) fell to the Providence Bruins (44-18-8-2, 98 points) in their regular season finale on Sunday afternoon by a final score of 7-3 inside Amica Mutual Pavilion.

Providence's win sealed an Atlantic Division championship; the T-Birds will be the 4-seed when they open the First Round of the Calder Cup Playoffs on Wednesday night against the 5-seed Hartford Wolf Pack.

It looked like the Bruins would run away with the game in the opening minutes, as back-to-back goals 43 seconds apart from Chris Wagner and Eduards Tralmaks staked Providence to a 2-0 lead less than eight minutes into game action. 

However, the T-Birds showed their comeback fight, along with a stroke of luck, to turn the first period around. A dump-in attempt came bouncing near the back of Kyle Keyser's net. The Bruins goalie bobbled the puck, and it skittered right into the slot to Mikhail Abramov, who had a wide-open net to make it a 2-1 game at 13:58.

Just 4:04 later, and after the Bruins committed a pair of minor penalties, Will BItten cashed in his career-high 22nd goal in the paint to tie the score, 2-2, with 1:58 to go in the frame. 

Vadim Zherenko stabilized after allowing the two early goals to keep the 2-2 game heading into the second, but Providence's power play restored the lead as Vinni Lettieri wired a slapper into the top shelf at 7:56 of the period, making it 3-2.

Once again, the T-Birds had a reply as Greg Printz whistled home a centering pass from Dylan McLaughlin with 3:23 left in the second to send a 3-3 tie into the final period.

The Bruins' offense proved to be too much in the final 20 minutes. Jack Ahcan netted a shorthanded goal off a rush at 3:16, and tallies from Joona Koppanen, Marc McLaughlin, and a second goal of the afternoon from Wagner helped secure the division title for Providence.

Thunderbirds fans can reserve their seats for the First Round against Hartford by calling (413) 739-GOAL (4625) or visiting www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.