The Springfield Thunderbirds kept their playoff roll going with a 3-2 road win over regular-season champion Providence in Game 1 of the teams’ Atlantic Division semifinal series on Friday night.
Game 2 of the best-of-five series is Sunday back in Providence.
It was the third consecutive come-from-behind victory for Springfield, which rallied to knock out Charlotte in the first round after losing Game 1.
The Thunderbirds, who finished 38 points behind the Bruins in the regular-season standings, spotted Providence an early 1-0 lead before Akil Thomas tied the game late in the first period. Thomas Bordeleau gave Springfield the lead early in the second and Dylan Peterson tacked on what proved to be the winning goal 3:21 into the third.
Drew Callin, making his Providence debut after skating in 224 games with the Thunderbirds from 2021 to 2025, scored his first career playoff goal for the Bruins. Matej Blümel banged in a rebound with 37 seconds left in regulation, but Springfield held on.
Georgi Romanov (3-0) made 24 saves for the Thunderbirds. He now has a .946 save percentage over his three postseason starts since taking over in the Springfield crease for Game 2 last round.
Michael DiPietro (0-1) stopped 23 of 26 shots for the Bruins.
(Springfield leads series, 1-0)
Game 1 – Fri., May 1 – Springfield 3, PROVIDENCE 2
Game 2 – Sun., May 3 – Springfield at Providence, 7:05
Game 3 – Tue., May 5 – Providence at Springfield, 7:05
*Game 4 – Thu., May 7 – Providence at Springfield, 7:05
*Game 5 – Sat., May 9 – Springfield at Providence, 7:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern
