“It’s just about recalibrating the team; we’ll make a few adjustments and be ready to go. We’ve bounced back strong, and I expect the same,” Steve Ott
It wasn’t long ago that the Springfield Thunderbirds lost their first game of the Calder Cup Playoffs 8-1 against the Charlotte Checkers. Three weeks ago, it looked like they would have a short trip to Charlotte and an early playoff exit. The Thunderbirds battled back with back-to-back wins, including a 2-1 overtime victory in Game Three, to complete the upset.
Fast forward to the Atlantic Division Final, and the Thunderbirds dropped the opening game 2-0 to the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. They’ve been battle-tested and have already beaten two of the best teams in the American Hockey League.
So, this is a position they’ve been in before where they can make the right adjustments to control the series.“It’s just about recalibrating the team; we’ll make a few adjustments and be ready to go. We’ve bounced back strong, and I expect the same,” Thunderbirds head coach Steve Ott mentioned in a conversation with The Hockey News. They’ve had their backs against the wall before, and it’s why Ott isn’t planning anything drastic. Instead, it’s about a few tweaks to defeat the team that finished the season with the third-best record in the AHL.
Thunderbirds Must Return to What’s Got Them Here
The Thunderbirds have gotten most of their offense from the top line both this season and in the playoff run. Aleksanteri Kaskimaki, Dillon Dube, and Chris Wagner have four goals and 11 assists in the playoffs and have provided the goals when the team needed them most. Likewise, Calle Rosen and Marc-Andre Gaudet have added three goals and four assists as a defense pair.
Aside from where talent is in the lineup, the Thunderbirds must play their tight-checking game, something they did at the start of Game One but drifted away from. “We had good intentions to play our way, and then in the second period we got away from how we play the game,” Ott noted after the game. For the most part, the Thunderbird made Game One a slow and physical game, and the key is to make the five-game series a grind for the Penguins.
Yes, the Penguins can play that way as well, so “There isn’t much room because both teams check really well,” Ott added. That said, the Thunderbirds have proven that they can win these tight-checking battles, something they proved in their series upset against the Providence Bruins.
The Thunderbirds have all the pieces in place to pull off an upset. Throw in strong play from newcomers Justin Carbanneau and Adam Jiricek, two prospects of the St. Louis Blues who joined them this week, and they can flip this series.
The Adjustments Ott Might Make
Game One was close, and it came down to a few mistakes. If there was one thing that cost the Thunderbirds, it was the turnovers and mistakes at the blue lines. “We had too many turnovers at the blue line that fed their transition, and they have really good transitional speed,” Ott mentioned after the game.
Bill Zonnon scored the first goal of the game (and his first in his AHL debut) by getting past the Thunderbird defense for a good look at the net. Tanner Howe scored the dagger goal seven minutes into the third period with a turnover that set up a breakaway.
The Thunderbirds will respond by playing a safe game with the puck and looking for high-quality shots. “We have to manage pucks and manage pucks properly to give ourselves a chance. We had some good looks; we just have to capitalize,” Ott stated, and in fairness, the puck movement was good enough to score. The shots weren’t, and that’s the difference in the playoffs.
Along with making the most of good looks, they must find ways to score in the dirty areas. It’s how they scored against the Bruins, another team that protects the interior of the defensive zone well, and it’s how they’ll score again.
On the defensive end, it’s hard to see the Thunderbirds making many adjustments, considering they played a great game defensively. The catch is that the Penguins will look to move the puck better in Game Two and find ways to get their elite talent some good looks. That’s where Ott must remain one step ahead and come prepared to adjust in Game Two.
The Obstacles The Penguins Present Them
The Penguins have arguably the best goaltender in the playoffs and the AHL. Sergei Murashov was named to the All-Rookie team, and in five playoff games, he’s allowed only six goals. While he wasn’t asked to stop much in Game One, he delivered with a 24-save shutout. Yes, the Thunderbirds already faced elite goaltending and found a way to beat it but Murashov is the best goaltender they’ve faced so far.
The Penguins are also finding offense from all four forward lines in this playoff run. They have 15 goals from 13 skaters in the playoffs, and it shows how deep their lineup is. The Thunderbirds won’t win the depth battle, at least not with the way the Penguins have played so far.
The Penguins are the more talented team in this matchup. That said, the Thunderbirds were the underdogs before and found ways to win. They can do it again, and it’s why this series is shaping up to be a good one.