The Springfield Thunderbirds (32-18-5-2) could not battle back from a second-period push from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (21-25-7-3), who tallied a 3-1 victory on Friday night at the MassMutual Center.
The Thunderbirds, who posted a five-goal first period in the initial meeting against Lehigh Valley at the MassMutual Center back on Jan. 28, had thoughts of starting on a similar foot on this night. Nathan Todd gathered a puck in the neutral zone and moved into the zone on his backhand across the left side, opening up a 2-on-1 with Klim Kostin. Todd saucered a perfect pass into a shooting position for Kostin, who one-timed it through Felix Sandstrom to give Springfield the 1-0 lead at 2:03.
The remainder of the first period took on a defensive feel, as Springfield managed only four additional shots in the frame following the Kostin goal. Joel Hofer had a relatively quiet opening frame, stopping the nine Phantoms shots that came his way.
The Phantoms took a page out of Springfield’s playbook and found instant offense to start the middle period. Adam Johnson sped his way around a defender on the left side and raced in on goal before lifting a forehand shot under the cross to beat Hofer and tie the game, 1-1, at 1:03 of the second.
Power plays were met with resistance on both sides, as the clubs combined for seven successful kills over the first two periods, including a 4-for-4 effort from the Lehigh Valley man-down unit. Egor Zamula gave his team the lead at 13:11 when he jumped up into an odd-man rush and was the beneficiary of a deflection right to his stick near the top of the left circle. His quick wrister eluded Hofer on the glove side and made it 2-1 for the visitors.
Tanner Laczynski added to the Phantoms’ tally when he deflected an Adam Clendening shot from the high slot that squeezed through Hofer at 18:01, making it a 3-1 game into the third.
Lehigh Valley continued to keep everything locked down defensively, and their penalty kill continued their fantastic night, surviving a pair of Springfield power plays in the final six minutes of play, including a lengthy 6-on-4 stretch with Hofer on the bench for an extra skater.
Springfield gets a chance for payback on Saturday night as the Phantoms and T-Birds rematch at 7:05 p.m. at the Thunderdome.
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