Funviralpark SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Thunderbirds (10-12-1-4) play back-to-back games before a short holiday break. The team visited the Hartford Wolf Pack (9-11-1-4) at his XL Center in Hartford on Thursday night, dropping the pack at 7pm before heading back to the MassMutual Center for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms ( 12-11-). 2-1) Friday night at 7:05pm
Both teams in the I-91 rivalry have won their first two games this season. Led by Josh Leivo’s hat-trick, the T-Birds topped the pack on November 4 at Springfield where he scored 5-1. Hartford returned the favor five nights later with a 2–1 shootout victory inside the XL Center. The home team has won 23 of the last 32 games.
The 2022-23 season has been difficult to score for both the T Burrs and the Wolf Pack. Hartford sits at the bottom of his AHL in San Diego, averaging just his 2.52 goals per game, while the T-Bars are dealing with seven different skater injuries in his career. He has only 2.67 points per night.
Despite losing the Thunderbirds’ final game in Utica on Saturday, Joel Hofer remains in the top 10 among goalkeepers’ goalkeepers in goals average (2.40) and save percentage (.922). increase. Only Calgary’s Dustin Wolf has played more than his 22-year-old Hofer in the 2022-23 season.
Springfield received one key piece from the St. Louis Blues earlier this week. AHL shorthanded his goal because his leader Will Bitten was returned to his T-bars following his NHL recall for the first time ever. Bitten appeared in his four games with St. Louis and recorded his NHL points for the first time in his career by recording an assist in his game against the Islanders in New York on December 6.
The Lehigh Valley enter a week on a three-game losing streak, but the Phantoms also split the first two matchups of the season series against the T-Birds. Springfield saw him lose 2–1 at Allentown on 11 November, but Anthony he was rewarded in the form of Angelo. He scored a hat-trick in a 6-4 win at Springfield on November 20th.
After the holidays, the T-Birds will take on the Wolf Pack on their home ice on Wednesday, December 28th at 7:05pm.
