Springfield Thunderbirds Season Thread

[theohall]

T-Birds pulled out a 3-2 SO win over Providence to win back-to-back games for the first time in almost a month. Last back-to-backs were Dec 28th and Jan 1st.

Scoring:
Peca from McGing and Anas
Walker from Peca and Rosen (PP)
Both Anas and Bitten scored in the shootout

Lindgren returned to form stopping 35 of 37 and allowing 1 goal in the shootout.

[theohall]

T-Birds lost 4-3 in OT to Wilkes-Barr Scranton

Scoring:
Cross from Peca and Anas
Rosen from Walker and Bitten
Bitten from Washkurak and Joshua in final minute of 3rd with the goalie pulled (putting Bitten back on his point per game pace)

Hofer stopped 31 of 35. Only one was a power play tally.

[theohall]

Since the last post in this thread, the T-Birds went 5-1-0-1.

3-2 OT win over Hartford (who've they've struggled against this season). Goals from Alexandrov, Walker and Cross (with the OT winner)
5-1 loss to Utica. Nathan Walker scored only T-Birds goal on a power play
3-2 win over Utica. Goals from Bitten, McGing, and Toropchenko.
4-2 win over Hartford. Goals from Peca (SHG), James Neal x2 (PPGx2), and McGing
5-1 win over Providence. Goals from Rosen, Peca x2, Callin, and Walker
3-2 Shootout loss to Wilkes-Barre Scranton. Goals from Neal (PPG with an assist from Perunovich) and Wesley.
3-1 win over LeHigh Valley. Goals from Callin, Neal, and Walker (ENG)

Goaltending - Hofer and Lindgren seem to be alternating. Which is just fine.

I had no clue Perunovich was back in the "A". All of the Blues games, including the Leafs announcers Saturday, have mentioned him as out with an injury. Apparently, he was sent down Feb 15th on a conditioning stint, so technically he still counts as injured on the Blues roster. Surprised that hasn't been mentioned in any of the games.

[theohall]

Wednesday night - T-Birds won 5-3 over the Brideport Islanders for their 6th straight home win.

Goals from Cross, Anas, MacEachern (x2- 2nd was ENG), and Toropchenko. Hofer stopped 23 of 26. One allowed was a power play marker. T-Birds fired 50 shots on goal in this one.

[theohall]

Springfield lost 3-1 to Hartford.

Only T-Birds goal was Bitten from Walker. Lindgren stopped 29 of 31. So it was a close game. All Hartford goals game after the 8 minute mark of the 3rd period with the last one being an ENG.

[theohall]

Springfield bounced back with a 4-2 win over the Charlotte Checkers

Scoring:
Alexandrov from Tucker and Walker
MacEachern from Santini and McGing
Perunovich from Todd and Peca (PP)
Toropchenko from MacEachern and Peca (ENG)

Hofer stopped 38 of 40. 1 was a PPG.

T-Birds are 1st in their division, 2nd in Conference, and 5th overall. Even though the T-Birds have played more games than the 4 teams ahead of them, the AHL uses points percentage for standings, so games in hand aren't as relevant in the standings.

With Perunovich being on a conditioning stint, the longest that can be is 14 days. Since he was assigned to the T-Birds on Feb 14th, expect to see him recalled Monday or officially returned to Springfield. I strongly suspect he is staying in Springfield. With him currenetly listed on LTIR, there isn't any cap space: LTIR used: $973,603. Space available: $22,379. I am aware stuff is pro-rated as games are played, but that's not near enough space to put him back on the roster, even with the pro-rated thing that happens with LTIR. Not even considering bonuses, the Blues still need at least 338k free to take him off LTIR. This assumes Sundqvist or Scandella don't go on it, depending on what happened to them.

[theohall]

Friday - 4-3 OT win over Hershey
Scoring:
Anas from Rosen and Cross
Neal from Anas and Santini
Neal from Peca and Rosen (PPG)
Neal from Peca and Rosen (OT winner 20 seconds in) Neal right now is a tweener - he''ll be an AHL All-Star but an NHL 4th liner.
Lindgren stopped 26 of 29 - no PPGs


Saturday 5-1 loss to Providence
Anas from Neal
Hofer stopped 20 of 25, only one was a PPG.

[theohall]

In terms of Perunovich - he played every available game for 2 weeks - the max limit allowed on a conditioning stint - but magically stayed on IR when he had to be recalled with Army saying he needs to be "re-evaluated". No mention of the Blues having no cap space at all to recall him Even sending someone down on the current roster won't create enough space. It's the same thing the Lightning did with Kucherov, only on a way smaller scale, which Blues fans have bitched about ad nauseam. I find it funny when the Blues GM blatantly lies about a situation (Perunovich this time) to maintain cap space, that most Blues fans defend the Blues and Army as being "honest" about the situation, yet none of them complained at all when the Blues used the same cap space rule with Tarasenko before the 2020 playoffs, while massively complaining about the Lightning essentially doing the same thing with Kucherov.

If Perunovich were still injured, he wouldn't have played every flipping game available over the 2 weeks he was with Springfield. It wasn't until his recall from conditioning was mandatory that Armstrong kept him on LTIR and deemed he needed to be "re-evaluated." Anyone not seeing the obvious scheming given the above is being disingenuous about how things work.

[theohall]

Looks like I was completely wrong on Perunovich with him having left wrist surgery. Not the first time, won't be the last.

[theohall]

Monday's game (3/7) vs Laval was postponed.

Only other T-Birds game was a 5-1 loss to Charlotte Friday March 11th. Neal scored the only T-Birds goal - his 8th in 9 games. Hofer gave up 5 goals on 19 shots and got pulled in the 2nd. Lindgren was 10 for 10 the rest of the game.

Gotta give credit to Neal for reporting to Springfield when he could have gone anywhere else in the NHL if someone wanted his services. Shows he wants to stay part of the Blues organization.

[theohall]

T-Birds won 4-3 in OT over the Charlotte Checkers on Tommy Cross 2nd OT winner this season.

Scoring:
McGing (13) from Bitten (15)
Walker (19) from Neal (5) and Anas (31) (PPG)
Anas (15) (unassisted)
Cross (5) from Peca (29)

Lindgren stopped 17 of 20 shots allowing 1 PPG and 2 even strength markers

[theohall]

T-Birds beat Bridgeport 3-2 in OT last night (Mar 16)

Scoring:
Joshua (unassisted)
Neal (penalty shot) (9th goal in 11 games)
Peca from Rosen and Neal

Lindgren stopped 36 of 38. One was a PPG.

[theohall]

T-Birds lost 3-1 to LeHigh Valley Friday night.

Scoring:
Kostin from Todd and Kim (Kostin's 1st AHL goal this season)

Hofer stopped 20 of 23 - all even strength markers in the 2nd period. 2 of the 3 were deflections.

[theohall]

Springfield lost 7-4 to Lehigh Valley Saturday (Mar 19). First 2 game losing streak in 2 months. 2 of the 7 allowed were ENGs.

Scoring:
Kaspick from Tucker and Santini
Neal from Anas and Rosen (PPG)
Neal from Peca and Walker
Bitten from Washkurak and Luce

Lindgren had the net stopping 22 of 27. 2 of the 5 he allowed were PPGs.

[theohall]

T-birds won 3-2 over the Hartford Wolfpack.

Scoring:

Anas from Joshua
Anas from Neal and McGing (PPG)
Joshua from Neal and Anas (PPG) - 2nd consecutive game with PPG for Joshua

Lingren stopped 24 of 26. One was a PPG.

[theohall]

T-Birds lost 3-2 to Providence Sat Mar 26th

Scoring:
Witkowski from Bitten and Joshua
Anas from Peca

Hofer had the net stopping 34 of 37. 2 were PPGs. One of those PPGs was a 2-man advantage for Providence.

[theohall]

Springfield won 1-0 over Providence in OT riding a stellar performance by Chuckie Sideburns which included him stoning the Bruins on 2 5-on-3s.

Kostin got the game-winner with a lone assist from Joshua

Lindgren was perfect stopping all 47 Providence shots on goal.

[theohall]

T-Birds won 4-3 in OT to Belleville Saturday night.

Scoring:
Joshua from Peca and Neal PPG
Alexandrov from Cross and LaFerriere
Neal from Cross and Peca (4-on-4 goal)
Cross from McGing and Anas (OT winner)

Hofer stopped 25 of 28 shots. One goal allowed was an SHG for Belleville.

[theohall]

T-Birds completed a perfect weekend with their 3rd win in 3 days with a 3-2 victory over Belleville

Scoring:
Tucker from Kostin and Santini
Bitten from Kessel and Joshua (this was Matt Kessel's 1st AHL point)
Neal from Anas and Cross

Lindgren stopped 30 of 32. The 2 goals allowed were both PPGs. Lindgren had a 100+ minute shutout streak prior to giving up the 1st PPG in this game. Belleville had a 5-on-3 for their 2nd PPG. T-Birds only allowed 5 shots in the 3rd period.

[theohall]

In case anyone missed it, the Springfield Thunderbirds are first in their division and 3rd overall with 12 games remaining. The big 4 games in the last twelve are 2 home games vs currently 2nd place in the division Charlotte 4/15 and 4/16 along with home and road games vs currently 3rd place in the division Providence 4/24 and 4/29, respectively. Their remaining 8 opponents are either fighting for wild card spots, which will change, or out of the playoffs.