BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
SPRINGFIELD, MA – The Springfield Thunderbirds’ Tommy Cross (Simsbury/Westminster Prep), wired a shot over the glove of the Hartford Wolf Pack’s Adam Huska at 2:17 of overtime to give Springfield a 3-2 home-ice win.
On the game-winning goal, Hugh McGing and Tim Gettinger collided behind the play, but McGing was the first player up, got to the puck, and sent Cross a pass and he went in on Huska and scored.
The Pack plays the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at 5 PM on Star Wars Night which is a rescheduled promotion from last week.
The Wolf Pack remains in first place with a record of 21-12-4-2 (.615 in winning percentage). They are .05 points ahead of the Hershey Bears. The Thunderbirds stay in third place at 22-13-5-1 (.620 winning percentage) with two more OT losses and two fewer shootout losses than the Bears.
WOLF PACK TIE THE GAME
The Thunderbirds tied the game at two as Nathan Walker tallied off a double-deflection while alone in front of Huska at 9:25.
Charlie Lindgren sparkled in the net for Springfield with 25 saves. Huska stopped 29 shots in the loss.
During the second period, at 16:30, the Wolf Pack took a 2-1 lead off the red-hot hands of Jonny Brodzinski scoring his record goal in his eighth consecutive game, tying the record held by former New York Rangers captain, Ryan Callahan back in the 2006-07 season.
Zach Giuttari (Loomis Chaffe) skated around Springfield and patiently passed it to Brodzinski, wide-open on the back door. Brodzinskiu deposited it in the back of the net for his sixteenth goal of the season.
Springfield tied the score on a controversial ending to what started as a fine break-out.
SPRINGFIELD TIES THE SCORE
Alexandrov pushed the puck and the pace up the right-wing. He saw Walker and got him the puck. Walker then sent a lead pass to Will Bitten who came in all alone at 14:56.
Huska looked as if he had stopped the puck on the initial shot, but Alexandrov charged the net as the trailer on the play. He put the puck past Huska who complained vehemently to the referee that he had frozen the puck. The refs held their ground and the play went under review. After several minutes the goal counted and Thunderbirds had the game tied at one.
The Thunderbirds put enormous pressure on the Pack defense in the last minute of regulation, but they held and forced the game to overtime.
FIRST PERIOD
In the opening frame, Austin Rueschoff effectively used his size and redirected a Tarmo Ruenanen shot which skittered over the goal line for a quick power play tally registering his fifth goal of the year.
Sam Anas tested Huska right off the bat in the first on a backhander at 1:26 and then at 1:45, the former UCONN netminder had to make a kick save on the former QU star.
LINES
Barron-Gettinger-Brodzinski
Ronning-Greco-Barron
Richards-Pajuniemi-Rueschoff
Khordorenko-Whalen-Luchuk
Bitetto-Lundkvist
Giuttari-Robertson
Skinner-Reunanen
Huska
Kinkaid
SCRATCHES
Taylor
O’Leary
Berzolla
