Oct 18, 2022
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Springfield Thunderbirds (0-2-0-0) will look to garner their first victory of the new season when they begin a three-game road swing north of the border on Wednesday night against the Laval Rocket (0-1-1-0) at Place Bell. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 p.m. inside the building that housed three unforgettable games in the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals.
The Thunderbirds have won five of their six lifetime visits to Laval, which includes victories in Game 3 and Game 5 of last season’s Conference Finals. Former Montreal draft selection Will Bitten headlined Springfield’s Game 3 win by tying a team record with four goals in the contest. The Thunderbirds then erased a 2-0 deficit in Game 5 en route to a 3-2 overtime win.
Both of the Eastern Conference finalists have gotten off to slow starts in the new season, with Springfield mustering just five goals over their first two games and Laval leaking 12 goals against in their first two contests of the 2022-23 season. However, both clubs do return key players from last year’s classic playoff series. Bitten led all players with eight points in the series, while Nathan Todd chipped in five points (3g, 2a) for Springfield, including a power-play goal in the clinching Game 7 in Springfield.
On the Laval side, Rafael Harvey-Pinard scored five goals in that playoff series, and he returns to the fold for the Rocket in 2022-23 alongside Danick Martel, the ex-Thunderbird who led the Rocket with seven points (3g, 4a) in the seven-game series.
Joel Hofer and Cayden Primeau each return between the pipes in a potential rematch of a battle of young netminding stars. Primeau played every second of the playoff series, posting a 2.42 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage. Hofer saw action in four games in the series last June, posting a 2.61 goals-against average and .933 save percentage.
After the T-Birds’ lone stop in Laval, the trip continues into Belleville for back-to-back games with the Senators (2-0-0-0) on Friday and Saturday at CAA Arena. Springfield won three of the four regular-season meetings a season ago, including a split of back-to-back games in Belleville. The Senators are one of the hottest teams to open the 2022-23 season, posting 12 goals over their first two games, a pair of victories over the Rocket. Eight different Belleville skaters have averaged a point-per-game in the early season, including former Thunderbird Jayce Hawryluk, who…
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