AHL Recap: Thunderbirds grounded in 4-1 loss to Phantoms

After being beaten 7-4 by the Hartford Wolf Pack on Wednesday, the Springfield Thunderbirds were grounded again in a 4-1 road loss to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms last night at PPL Arena.

After a scoreless first period, Lehigh Valley’s Reece Willcox beat Philippe Desrosiers shorthanded to open the scoring 11:16 into the second.

James de Haas and Kyle Criscuolo (PPG) tacked on goals in the third period to give the home side a three-goal lead.

Rodrigo Abols ended Jean-Francois Berube’s shutout bid with 1:20 remaining in regulation, with assists going to Dryden Hunt and Ethan Prow, before Mark Friedman completed the scoring with an empty-netter 29 seconds later.

Desrosiers finished the game with 29 saves on 32 shots for the Thunderbirds, who will remain in Pennsylvania to face the Hershey Bears tonight.

Springfield (26-22-2) is in sixth place in the AHL’s Atlantic Division, two points behind the fourth place Wilkes-Barre/Scarnton Penguins.