T-Birds Let Third Period Slip Away in Allentown

ALLENTOWN, Pa. -  The Springfield Thunderbirds (36-25-3-5, 80 points) fell victim to a third-period charge by the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (37-26-3-3, 80 points) in a 4-3 loss on Saturday night inside the PPL Center.

Despite the defeat, the T-Birds did secure their second straight Calder Cup playoff berth thanks to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's 8-2 win over the Bridgeport Islanders.

After relenting the first goal of each of their past two games, Springfield wasted little time jumping to the advantage in Pennsylvania, as Nikita Alexandrov moved in on the left side looking to get a wrist shot in on Sam Ersson's net. Alexandrov's shot was ultimately blocked, but defenseman Tyler Tucker alertly followed up on the play, picked up the loose puck, and squeezed it through Ersson on the stick side, and the T-Birds had a 1-0 lead just 34 seconds into play.

Scoring chances were prevalent for each team in a first period that netted 24 combined shots on net, but Ersson settled in nicely, while T-Birds starter Garret Sparks was stellar, turning away 14 Lehigh Valley offerings, including a handful of point-blank chances from his former teammate Adam Brooks. 

Springfield gave Sparks a bit of insurance when Hugh McGing finished off a 2-on-1 pass from Will Bitten at 4:14 of the second, extending the lead to 2-0 on his 15th goal of the season.

A frenetic and high-paced second period, which featured exclusively even-strength hockey, finally allowed Lehigh Valley to cut the lead in half when Jordy Bellerive beat Sparks with a slot wrister at 16:07 to send the game to the third in a 2-1 score.

It appeared the T-Birds had withstood the Phantoms' toughest rebuttal when Mikhail Abramov beat Ersson at 2:11 of the third off a cross-ice pass from Mathias Laferriere. Springfield's 3-1 lead would prove to be the most dangerous one of all.

Just a minute later, after a penalty put the Phantoms on a power play, Emil Andrae beat Sparks with a seeing-eye wrister through traffic, and it was a 3-2 game at 3:11 of the third.

Before the midpoint of the third, Kevin Connauton joined a rush, accepting a drop pass from Adam Brooks and slipping a wrister through Sparks' left arm to tie the score, 3-3 at 9:05.

The momentum jolt for the Phantoms proved to be too much to overcome, and Olle Lycksell slipped in behind two defenders following a Springfield turnover and cashed in on a one-timer on the doorstep, set up by Brooks, with just 3:24 to go to ice the game.

Lehigh Valley's win propelled the Phantoms all the way up into a three-way tie for third at 80 points. The Phantoms own the tiebreaker over both Springfield and Charlotte, so they are the team that sits in third position heading into the season's final week. 

The T-Birds' regular season ends with one final 3-game weekend beginning on Friday, April 14 on home ice against the Providence Bruins. All six playoff teams for the Atlantic Division are set, but nobody has locked themselves into a seeding with precious days remaining before the Calder Cup Playoffs. 

Thunderbirds fans can reserve their seats for upcoming games by calling (413) 739-GOAL (4625) or visiting www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.