Tippett, Toninato Lead Offensive Charge Past Bridgeport
Oct 25, 2019BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – The Springfield Thunderbirds (4-4-0-0) concluded a five-game road trip in emphatic fashion on Friday night, dispatching the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (1-4-1-1) by a final score of 7-4 at Webster Bank Arena.
The Thunderbirds wasted no time in getting the jump on the game, as Anthony Greco raced down the right wing and beat Bridgeport goalie Jared Coreau off the underside of the crossbar just 37 seconds into the game, making it 1-0 on Greco's third goal of the season.
Bridgeport entered the game with just 11 goals in its first six contests, including none in the prior five periods they played. However, the Sound Tigers showed their bite just 1:30 after Greco's goal when Kyle Burroughs wristed a puck from the left side over the glove of Chris Driedger to tie the game, 1-1.
Bridgeport would not be finished, either. As Driedger came out of his net to move the puck in the trapezoid, Steve Bernier arrived on the scene, stole Driedger's pass, then stuffed it into an empty goal to put the Sound Tigers in front, 2-1, at the 6:22 mark.
It was Springfield's turn to respond to adversity, and they did so at 13:23, just seconds after a power play expired. Daniel Audette drove hard to the right post before centering the puck in the direction of Sebastian Repo. Repo got a shot away that caromed off a defender before ending up right on the stick of Dominic Toninato, who impulsively snapped it into an empty net to tie the game, 2-2.
Coreau saw more than twice the work of Driedger in stopping 12 in the first period while Driedger stopped just four shots in the first 20 minutes.
The offenses were far from done as the second period began. Owen Tippett picked up his first goal since Opening Night as he took advantage of a Coreau misplay, as the goaltender flung the puck off Tippett's body and back into his own net at 2:34 to put the T-Birds ahead 3-2 on Tippett's second power play goal of the season.
Springfield then put itself in a big hole when they ended up down two men for two full minutes on simultaneous minor penalties to Toninato and Blaine Byron. Sebastian Aho made the T-Birds pay with a one-timer through Driedger's five-hole at 8:10 to tie the game for a third time, 3-3.
That score held on into the period's final two minutes, until Tippett took over once again. Kevin Roy took a rinkwide feed from Ethan Prow on the left side, neatly curled the puck into the middle to gain more space, and Tippett roamed down the slot to accept a feed and snap it over Coreau at 18:19 to make it 4-3.
The Thunderbirds grabbed more insurance with less than three seconds on the clock when Toninato crashed the net to grab his second goal of the night off another set-up from Prow. The goal made it 5-3 through 40 minutes, and Prow led all players with three points - all assists - through the opening two frames.
Bernier would add his second of the night to keep things interesting early in the third, but the Bridgeport comeback would not come to fruition. Tippett registered his third point of the night, setting up Henrik Borgstrom for a beautiful one-timer at 14:07, and then Paul Thompson got himself into the goal column for the first time on the season off a second assist of the night from Roy at 15:19.
Driedger improved to 3-3 on the season, as he finished his evening with 29 saves.
The T-Birds return home on Saturday for their first meeting with the Belleville Senators since the 2017-18 season. The Thunderbirds have won both meetings against the Senators, taking home a 7-4 win in Springfield in October of 2017 and a 2-1 win in Belleville in April of 2018. The Senators enter the weekend coming off a 3-2 win over Laval on Wednesday after dropping four of their first five contests.
The Rochester Americans make their second October trip to Springfield on Sunday, looking for their fourth win in six lifetime trips to the MassMutual Center. The Americans held on for a narrow 2-1 win on Oct. 11 behind a 20-save performance by Andrew Hammond. Chris Driedger played marvelously for the T-Birds in that matchup, stopping 38 of 40 shots. 17 of which came in the final period alone.
For more ticket information or to become a 2019-20 Springfield Thunderbirds ticket package member, or to purchase single game tickets, call (413) 739-GOAL (4625) or visit www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.