SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Springfield Thunderbirds (14-5-2-0) could not solve goaltender Kyle Keyser and the Providence Bruins (9-6-3-1) on Saturday night at the MassMutual Center before a crowd of 6,465, falling by a final score of 3-0. The defeat marked the first time all season that Providence got the better of the T-Birds after Springfield had won a pair of matchups in Providence earlier in the season.
Justin Brazeau provided the offense for the Bruins in both the first and second periods to tally his first two goals as a member of Providence. At 5:26 of the opening period, the 6-foot-6 winger took a cross-ice pass from Eduards Tralmaks and beat Joel Hofer on a 2-on-1 to open the scoring and give the Bruins the 1-0 edge heading into period two.
After a stalemate for the first nine minutes of the middle period, Brazeau got himself on the board a second time with a redirection out in front of Hofer’s crease off a point shot by Aaron Ness to make it a 2-0 score at 9:22 of the second.
Keyser had a busier time in the final period, as Springfield threw 13 shots at the Bruins goal from all angles, but could not muster one on this night. Keltie Jeri-Leon added insurance for the Bruins at 3:03 of the third period to make it 3-0. It was Jeri-Leon’s first AHL goal of his career. Hofer finished his night with 29 saves, but Keyser’s 24 saves got the Providence goalie his first professional shutout.
Springfield gets a chance to get back in the win column on Sunday afternoon as they visit the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for a 3:05 p.m. puck drop.
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.
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