PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Springfield Thunderbirds (12-13-4-2) suffered another gut-wrenching defeat late in regulation, 3-1, against the Providence Bruins (23-6-1-0) on Sunday inside Amica Mutual Pavilion.
Springfield’s power play got two early reps in the first four minutes of play, and the man advantage capitalized as Matt Luff unleashed his team-leading 11th of the season at 4:32 of the period, making it a 1-0 game off set-ups from Dillon Dube and Samuel Johannesson.
The Bruins had a wonderful shift following Luff’s goal that nearly tied the score, highlighted by a Victor Soderstrom point shot that rang the post behind Vadim Zherenko.
Eventually, Providence would get even as they also struck on their second power play of the period, as Dans Locmelis beat Zherenko from the left circle at 13:35 after a Fabian Lysell one-time attempt careened right to the waiting rookie winger.
The Bruins’ defense suffocated the T-Birds’ attack in the middle period, keeping the visitors to only two shots on net, but Zherenko was tremendous in his own right, denying all 10 Providence shots in the period. Among Zherenko’s best pieces of work was a clutch stop on a low-slot tester from Locmelis.
The 1-1 stalemate carried all the way into the game’s dying minutes, but for the second time in three meetings in Providence, the Bruins found a way to break the tie late in regulation when Frederic Brunet uncorked a slapper that eluded Zherenko with just 1:11 remaining.
The T-Birds offense, which managed only 17 shots all night and just seven after the first period, could not get an equalizing response, and Riley Tufte polished off the night with an empty-netter just 13 seconds after Brunet’s game-winning goal.
With their win streak snapped, the T-Birds stay on the road on Wednesday, looking to start a new one as they visit the Utica Comets for a 7:00 p.m. tussle at Adirondack Bank Center.