After beating Utica 2-1 in overtime on Wednesday, the Springfield Thunderbirds dropped home games to Syracuse and Hershey this weekend to head into the AHL’s All-Star break on a two-game losing streak.
Syracuse 4, Springfield 3
Cory Conacher, Mathieu Brodeu, Henri Ikonen and Yanne Gorde scored as the Crunch jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Gorde’s goal was shorthanded and came at 11:21 of the third period. Jayce Hawryluk scored a power-play goal, from Sena Acolatese and Brody Sutter, 2:32 later to finally get the Thunderbirds on the board. Kyle Rau lit the lamp with another power-play goal at 15:08. Assists on the marker went to Mackenzie Weegar and goaltender Reto Berra. Sutter scored from Hawryluk and Acolatse with 1:32 remaining to cut the deficit to one, but Springfield would fail to equalize. Adam Wilcox made 29 saves to get win, while Berra finished with 21 stops for the Thunderbirds.
Hershey 4, Springfield 2
Liam O’Brien and Chris Bourque (ENG) scored third period goals to power the Bears to a 4-2 win over the Thunderbirds. After Jakub Vrana opened the scoring at 14:22 of the first period, Tim Bozon tied the game 2:56 later with a power-play goal set up by Mackenzie Weegar and Kyle Rau. Jayce Hawryluk scored for the third straight game 1:32 into the second to give Springfield the lead. Rau and Ryan Horvat drew the helpers on Hawryluk’s fourth. Zach Sanford notched an unassisted shorthanded goal at 15:17 to even the game. Parker Milner was the victorious goalie, finishing with 30 stops. Reto Berra made 22 saves and fell to 9-10-2-3 on the season.
The Thunderbirds are off until Friday’s visit to Providence to face the Bruins. Congratulations to defenseman Mackenzie Weegar, who will represent Springfield in the AHL All-Star game tonight in Allentown, PA.