Written by Davin Ridall
WILKES-BARRE, PA – Last season was a magical run for the Springfield Thunderbirds, entering the playoffs with the second fewest points in the league, and pulling off upsets over Charlotte and Providence, two of the league’s top teams. But it all came to an end in the Atlantic Division Finals against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. If Springfield was looking for revenge against those very same Penguins on opening night of the 2026-27 season, they certainly got it, walking into Mohegan Arena and snatching a 3-2 overtime victory.
One of the biggest keys to Springfield’s success during their 2026 Calder Cup Playoff run was now fourth year goaltender Georgi Romanov, who had a 1.84 goals against average in their 11 games against Charlotte, Providence, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He was certainly a key in this game, shutting down quality chances from the Penguins all night long. Romanov finished the game with 43 saves, the third highest total in Romanov’s professional career.
“I think you would expect that after we chased them in the last game of their season,” Penguins head coach Kirk MacDonald said about Romanov’s performance. “I thought in the first period he was probably going to come out with an effort like this, I don’t think it’s surprising, he’s a good goalie.”
Springfield got off to a quick start, opening up the game’s scoring on a backhand shot from Justin Carbonneau that got past Joel Blomqvist just over three minutes into the contest. Carbonneau was drafted just a year earlier by the St. Louis Blues, and that goal was the first of his AHL career.
The Penguins didn’t take long to respond, scoring just under two minutes later thanks to Atley Calvert. After initially getting denied by Romanov right in front of the net, Calvert controlled his own rebound and put it past Romanov to even the score at 1.
Calvert was one of the Penguins biggest bright spots despite the loss, recording both of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s goals in the contest and providing the offense with several other quality scoring opportunities.
“Calvert did a great job tonight, probably our best player,” coach MacDonald said about Calvert’s two goal performance. “I think he did a great job taking care of the pucks, playing behind them, getting to the offensive zone, and he does a great job arriving on time.”
With the game tied at 1, the Penguins went to the power play two separate times on slashing and roughing calls against Springfield. Neither of those man advantages amounted to a goal for the Penguins, and shortly after their second power play of the night, Springfield took the lead back on a breakaway goal from TJ Tynan.
“We had our chances, we were in the house and we didn’t want to shoot, we’ve got to make the goalie make a save,” coach MacDonald said about the Penguins power play struggles. “We probably should’ve had 60 shots tonight based on the stuff that we passed up.”
The Penguins ultimately went 0 for 5 on the power play in the game, this included a third man advantage opportunity late in the first period that only saw one shot on goal.
While the power play unit for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton struggled, the penalty kill unit did a much better job, holding Springfield scoreless on their four power play chances. On top of that, the Penguins also tallied their first shorthanded goal of the season midway through the second period after Calvert once again put back his own rebound on a beautifully executed odd man rush, tying the score back up at 2.
That deadlock held firm all the way through the end of regulation, largely thanks to big time saves by both Romanov and Penguins’ goaltender Joel Blomqvist. Early in the third period, Oskar Sudqvist fired a slap shot towards the net that Blomqvist couldn’t cover, allowing Nathan Walker to have a chance right in front of the net that Blomqvist was able to turn aside.
Late in the third period, the Penguins went to the man advantage again after a hooking penalty on Aleksanteri Kaskimaki, and in the final seconds of regulation, Rutger McGroarty had an opportunity to possibly win the game for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. McGroarty’s shot almost right in front of the net sailed just wide, sending this opening night battle into overtime.
The Penguins opened up the extra frame with still 34 seconds of power play to work with, and for most of that time, they failed to keep possession of the puck. Their last big chance came once again from Atley Calvert, who skated with Colin Ralph right behind him and tried to go left to right directly in front of Romanov’s net, but could not get a shot off.
With Kaskimaki out of the penalty box, the game continued with 4 on 4 action, as their were no stoppages after the penalty expired, until the 1:50 mark in overtime when Calle Rosen fired a wrist shot past Blomqvist to the top right corner of the net, winning the game for the Thunderbirds.
The Penguins are back in action tomorrow, Sunday, October 4th, as they welcome in the Hartford Wolf Pack. The Thunderbirds also play their next game tomorrow, staying on the road to face the Providence Bruins.
Leave a Reply