SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Springfield Thunderbirds (30-29-6-2) rode another spectacular performance between the pipes to the finish line in a 3-1 win over the Rochester Americans (31-28-5-4) on Friday night inside the MassMutual Center. The win was the T-Birds season-high fifth straight and shaved their magic number to clinch a playoff spot down to just 4 points.
Rookie netminders shined brightest in a relatively low-event first frame, as Rochester goalie Scott Ratzlaff polished off a fourth straight shutout period against the T-Birds, while Will Cranley turned away nine Rochester efforts across period one, while the Springfield penalty kill survived three minutes’ worth of power play time from their opposition, the league’s top-ranked road man-advantage.
The goaltender’s duel continued past the midpoint of regulation, with each teams penalty kill continuing to stifle the opposition. At 12:10 of the middle period, Springfield’s torrid top line finally broke the ice when Chris Wagner shuffled a backhand shot past Ratzlaff after a save off of Quinton Burns immediately prior. The captain’s team-leading and career-high 24th gave Springfield the leg up and a 1-0 advantage.
Just 3:12 later, Wagner’s fellow veteran leader Dillon Dube showed tenacity to will himself to a puck battle victory in the right circle before sneaking a snapper through a stunned Ratzlaff to make it 2-0.
From there, the Springfield defense and Cranley handled matters, killing off a double-minor power play late in the second and early in the third and carrying the two-goal advantage into th game’s closing minutes.
Lamentably, Cranley’s shutout bid came up just short when Trevor Kuntar chipped a backhand rebound home in a 6-on-5 with 2:22 remaining to make it a 2-1 score. However, the Americans would not get any closer, and Dube’s second goal and third point of the night into an empty-net sealed the triumph with less than a minute remaining.
