Providence Bruins' Matthew Poitras reaches in for the puck on Thunderbirds' Dylan Peterson in the first period. (Source: Kris Craig/The Providence Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)The Springfield Thunderbirds beat the Providence Bruins 3-2 in Game One of the Atlantic Division Semifinals of the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs.
Providence would get on the board first with their first shot 3:12 minutes into the game courtesy of a shot by forward Drew Callin. Unfortunately for the Bruins, the lead would briefly last as Providence would commit two penalties later on, that coincided for 19 seconds, when forward Akil Thomas scored at the 13:11 mark on the man-advantage to tie the game.
Springfield would get a third opportunity at a power play in the early stages of second period and just at it's expiration, the T-Birds would get the go-ahead goal from forward Thomas Bordeleau. Providence also had two opportunities in the man-advantage in the period but went 0-for-2, with four of their eight shots of the frame coming in those situations.
The Thunderbirds' momentum from the second period did not falter even a bit as at the 3:21 mark of the final frame, forward Dylan Peterson shot the game-winner past Bruins goalie Michael DiPietro from the right faceoff zone to put Springfield up 3-1.
With DiPietro pulled out in the last few minutes of the game, the Bruins had an extra attacker and managed to draw a penalty. Forward Matej Blumel capitalized on the man-advantage and scored, cutting the Thunderbirds' lead down to 3-2 with 37 seconds left to go.
Unfortunately, that would not be enough time for Providence to score and the T-Birds took Game One in the Atlantic Division Semifinals Series.
Springfield goalie Georgi Romanov made 24 saves off 26 shots for a save percentage of 0.923.
Providence goalie and AHL All-Star DiPietro made 23 saves off 26 shots for a save percentage of 0.885.