T-Birds Visit Bruins Wednesday Night

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Springfield Thunderbirds (7-1-2-0) continue a busy start to the month of November this evening when they visit the Providence Bruins (4-3-1-1) inside the Dunkin' Donuts Center at 7:05 p.m.

The visiting T-Birds are coming off their first regulation loss in 10 games, a 5-3 defeat at the hands of the Hershey Bears on Sunday in Pennsylvania. Despite the loss, the T-Birds' power play remained red hot, going 2-for-4 in the game and improving to a 27.7% success rate, the third-best in the AHL. They will face a stiff test in Providence, as the Bruins' penalty kill sits third in the AHL, killing 30 of its first 34 penalties.

T-Birds' rookie defenseman Scott Perunovich also extended his team-record point streak to nine consecutive games. He is tied for the league lead in scoring with 16 points (2g, 14a) in his first nine professional games. Springfield has seven different players riding point streaks into tonight's action, including three with streaks of five games or more (Perunovich - nine games; Matthew Peca - six games; Nolan Stevens - five games). 

Tonight's matchup is the second of the young season between the T-Birds and Bruins. Springfield came away with the 4-1 victory on Oct. 24 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. After giving up a first-period power-play goal, the T-Birds rattled off the next four tallies in the game, and Joel Hofer stopped 39 of 40 shots for the victory. Peca scored twice while Perunovich added three helpers to pace the Springfield attack.

Following the mid-week duel with the Bruins, the Thunderbirds return home on Friday for a 7:05 p.m. matchup with the Hartford Wolf Pack inside the MassMutual Center.

For more information on the Springfield Thunderbirds and to order tickets, please visit www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com. To learn more about becoming a Thunderbirds ticket member, call (413) 739-GOAL (4625) to speak to a Thunderbirds representative.