Dillon Dube scored 4:01 into overtime to send the Springfield Thunderbirds into the Atlantic Division finals with a 1-0 win over the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy winning Providence Bruins on Thursday night.
With the win, the Thunderbirds completed what statistically stands as the largest upset in Calder Cup Playoff history, eliminating a Bruins team that had finished 38 points ahead of them in the regular-season standings.
An errant Bruins pass through the neutral zone was intercepted by defenseman Marc-André Gaudet at the Springfield blue line, and Gaudet sent the puck back up the left wing to Otto Stenberg for a quick-developing three-on-two rush.
Stenberg hit a seam and fed Chris Wagner, Wagner found Dube cutting to the net, and Dube beat Michael DiPietro for his second goal and fifth point of the series.
Georgi Romanov (5-1), who made 37 saves for Springfield in the shutout, had a 1.47 goals-against average and a .953 save percentage in the four games against Providence.
The St. Louis Blues’ last two first-round draft picks – defenseman Adam Jiříček (16th overall in 2024) and forward Justin Carbonneau (19th overall in 2025) – both made their AHL debuts for the Thunderbirds in the game.
DiPietro (1-3) stopped 27 shots for the Bruins, who have lost eight of their last nine playoff series since reaching the Eastern Conference Finals in 2017.
(Springfield wins series, 3-1)
Game 1 – Fri., May 1 – Springfield 3, PROVIDENCE 2
Game 2 – Sun., May 3 – PROVIDENCE 2, Springfield 1
Game 3 – Tue., May 5 – SPRINGFIELD 3, Providence 2 (OT)
Game 4 – Thu., May 7 – SPRINGFIELD 1, Providence 0 (OT)
