The Florida Panthers are currently off enjoying their league-mandated bye week and will return to action on Friday night when the Vegas Golden Knights make their first-ever visit to the BB&T Center.
While the Cats are idle, the Springfield Thunderbirds haven been busy building a three-game winning streak. All three of the wins have come on the road.
Wednesday, the Thunderbirds beat the Hershey Bears 2-1 in overtime to pick up their first victory of 2018. Bobby Farnham notched the winner three minutes into the extra session and Samuel Montembeault made 35 saves. Alexandre Greiner opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal in the first period.
On Friday, Springfield pounded the Lehigh Valley Phantoms by a 6-2 count. Chase Balisy scored twice and Jayce Hawryluk, Ed Wittchow, Dryden Hunt and Mark Fayne also lit the lamp. Ryan Horvat and Anthony Greco each had four assists. Montembeault made 17 stops to pick up his tenth win of the campaign.
Yesterday, the T-Birds topped the Providence Bruins 5-2 at Dunkin’ Donuts Center. Maxim Mamim scored the go-ahead goal and Dryden Hunt came up with both the insurance goal and the empty-net clincher. Ed Wittchow and Juho Lammikko also tallied for Springfield. Evan Cowley made 34 saves to collect his second AHL win.
The Thunderbirds (17-21-1-1) will host the Hartford Wolf Pack today at 1:05 p.m.