Thunderbirds miss playoff chance with 3-1 loss to Wolf Pack

SPRINGFIELD – The stars didn’t align for the Thunderbirds on Saturday. Coming into Saturday, Springfield had won a season-best five consecutive games after their most recent defeat of the Rochester Americans on Friday. And that outcome lowered the Thunderbirds’ magic number to clinch their second consecutive postseason berth to four points.

So if the Springfield defeated Hartford and Lehigh Valley lost in regulation on Saturday, the Thunderbirds will reach the postseason for the fourth time in their team’s 10-year history. But that plan didn’t come to fruition, as Springfield fell 3-1 against the Wolf Pack on Saturday inside the MassMutual Center. In Springfield’s outcome, though, rookie netminder Callum Tung recorded a game-high 36 saves to not only help Hartford (25-35-5-3) play spoiler but also bid farewell to its previous seven-game winless streak.

“I don’t think we started on time and matched their intensity,” said Thunderbirds coach Steve Ott of their first period against Hartford. “I thought they were a hard-checking team and put on the pressure. And you know, the rest of the way, we had to chase the game.

” Despite 17 saves from netminder Vadim Zherenko, the Thunderbirds moved to 30-30-6-2, as they currently maintain the sixth and final postseason spot with 68 points in the Atlantic Division . But since seventh-place Lehigh Valley (29-33-3-3) defeated Bridgeport on Saturday, Springfield’s magic number should remain at four with four regular-season games left. Through seven minutes of action, both teams remained scoreless.