SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Springfield Thunderbirds (13-19-4-2) fought tooth and nail with one of the top clubs in the AHL but came up just short in a 3-2 loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (26-11-1-2) on Monday afternoon inside the MassMutual Center. 
After they did not lead at all in any of their past three losses, the T-Birds finally got off to a 1-0 jump at 12:09 of the first on this day as Simon Robertsson ended a year-long goal-scoring drought, pushing a low slot shot through Sergei Murashov for the lone tally of the first period.
Vadim Zherenko was locked in from the onset of this one, turning away 16 Penguins shots in each of the first two periods. Unfortunately for the T-Birds, Zherenko’s strong efforts were not enough to keep the Penguins from a pair of second-period tallies, as a Valtteri Puustinen goal off a face-off at 1:36 and Chase Pietila’s first pro goal at 15:41 were enough to give the visitors a one-goal lead into the third.
Both goaltenders continued to shine in the final period, but a costly penalty to the Penguins granted the T-Birds a power play chance, and Matthew Peca cashed in on a rebound from Calle Rosen and Matt Luff at 3:45 of the third to tie the score, 2-2. Peca’s point streak moved to six straight games, while Luff’s season-best streak moved to eight consecutive contests.
Zherenko’s night would end with a dazzling 45 stops, but that would prove to be not quite enough, as Gabe Klassen broke the tie at 9:07 of the third, deflecting a hard pass from Rutger McGroaty behind the Springfield goalie to make it a 3-2 game.
Springfield emptied the tank with Zherenko on the bench in the closing seconds, but Murashov answered the bell with a tremendous lurching save on Hugh McGing with just over 10 seconds remaining.
The T-Birds will return to home ice on Friday to continue this five-game homestand on Jan. 23 for a 7:05 p.m. tilt against the Toronto Marlies.
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