SPRINGFIELD -- During their 10th and final meeting of the season, the Springfield Thunderbirds defeated the Hartford Wolf Pack by a final score of 5-2 at the MassMutual Center on Wednesday evening. With the win, the Thunderbirds improved to 30-27-9-5 on the season, but still remain in seventh place inside the Atlantic. The Wolf Pack, meanwhile, have now dropped...
SPRINGFIELD -- During their 10th and final meeting of the season, the Springfield Thunderbirds defeated the Hartford Wolf Pack by a final score of 5-2 at the MassMutual Center on Wednesday evening.
With the win, the Thunderbirds improved to 30-27-9-5 on the season, but still remain in seventh place inside the Atlantic.
The Wolf Pack, meanwhile, have now dropped four of their last five games, residing in last place with a record of 28-33-7-3 on the year.
"I thought the whole group started on time during this one," Springfield coach Geordie Kinnear said. "Even though we lost some focus, our guys stuck with it and remained focused throughout the rest of the game to come away on top."
With only five regular-season games remaining, and Springfield still trailing Providence by seven points for a spot in the postseason, Vincent Praplan remains hopeful.
"We want to win every game," Praplan said. "Even though the odds don't look good for us, we're still taking each game one at a time. Over the last week, we've been playing good hockey. Despite some games we should have won, it's important to remain focused on the task at hand."
Following Joel Lowry's goal to give Springfield an early two-goal cushion, Josh Wesley then responded with his own netter for Hartford after three-plus minutes of play. Moments later, Jonathan Ang's fifth tally of the season pushed the lead back to two. But even then, the margin still wasn't safe, as Nick Jones' shot kept things close with under 7:00 remaining in the first period.
Ultimately, Blaine Byron then added an empty-netter during the final minutes to secure the three-goal defeat.
Seven different Thunderbirds scored at least one point: Anthony Greco (one goal, two assists), Lowry (two goals), Ang (one goal), Byron (one goal, one assist), Matt Mangene (two assists), Juho Lammikko (one assist) and Praplan finished with two assists as well.
Goalie Chris Driedger recorded 34 saves to earn his sixth win of the season versus the Wolf Pack.
"Driedger has played exceptionally well against Hartford this season," Kinnear said. "Even when he makes mistakes, he always honkers down to keep us in it. If you look at our matchup last Saturday against Wilkes-Barre, you'll see that Driedger was our best player on the ice.
"After signing a deal halfway through the season, Driedger has continued to earn his time on the ice and help us keep winning hockey games."
The Thunderbirds' offense came out firing during the opening period.
Less than two minutes into the contest, Lowry quickly got Springfield on the board with a redirect down low. The offense was just warming up, however, as Praplan located Mangene open in the corner, who then connected with a striding Lowry for his second goal of the evening with 16:36 remaining on the clock. Praplan and Mangene each picked up their 17th and 23rd assists of the year on the play, respectively.
...MAKE THAT 2 FOR LOWRY! #SPRvsHFD pic.twitter.com/Su7tKopGPa
-- Springfield T-Birds (@ThunderbirdsAHL) April 3, 2019
The Wolf Pack and Thunderbirds' offenses then went back-and-forth. Following Wesley's shot to cut Hartford's deficit in half, Ang then responded with a breakaway backhander from Greco to push the lead back to two.
The score did not remain that way for long, as the Wolf Pack then earned their first power-play opportunity of the meeting. Moments later, Jones once again, made it a one-possession game with 6:14 remaining in the frame. The goal was Jones' first of his professional career, while Ville Meskanen and Matt Register each picked up helpers on the drive.
Tic-Tac-Toe [?] #SPRvsHFD pic.twitter.com/NazMhZr2vR
-- Springfield T-Birds (@ThunderbirdsAHL) April 3, 2019
Entering the first intermission, Springfield maintained a 3-2 lead while also holding a 13-7 shots-on-goal-advantage over Hartford.
"I think we were just trying to get pucks into the net early on," Lowry said of the first period. "I thought we also did a good job posting bodies down low and then double-stacking on our first power-play attempt where Mang (Mangene) was able to get an easy one through."
The Thunderbirds' then extended their cushion halfway through the second.
After 32 minutes of play, the Wolf Pack went back on the man-advantage following Lowry's hooking call. Seconds later, though, Lammikko forced a turnover in the opposing zone and then connected with a striding Greco, whose wrister beat Hartford netminder Adam Huska (22 saves) glove side. The goal was Greco's team-leading 27th of the season, while Lammikko earned his 12th assist.
Did someone say Greco? Shorthanded? [?] #SPRvsHFD pic.twitter.com/rSeXnMVfoY
-- Springfield T-Birds (@ThunderbirdsAHL) April 4, 2019
Despite outshooting Springfield 14-7 during the second, the Wolf Pack still trailed by a pair through 40 minutes of action.
In the end, the lead was too much to overcome as the Thunderbirds came away victorious.
Springfield will now endure a weekend-road series against the first-place Charlotte Checkers on Saturday, April 6 with a 6:00 p.m. scheduled start.
"The most important thing for us to do this weekend is to start on time and also play our game," Kinnear said. "Obviously, Charlotte is an elite team, so you have to be good without the puck.
"Ultimately, we're going to take this one shift at a time because we're still building something special here and would like that to continue."