Syracuse Crunch Hold Off Springfield Thunderbirds for 4-3 Midweek Win

Syracuse seized control in the closing seconds of the first period and survived a third-period push to defeat Springfield 4-3 at Upstate Medical University Arena. The Crunch overturned an early deficit with Dylan Duke’s power-play goal and Wyatt Newpower’s buzzer-beater, then rode Maxim (Max) Groshev’s second-period insurance tally to a tense finish.

Springfield struck first when Chris Wagner crashed into the blue paint and finished off a Michael Buchinger point slapper at 8:46 of the opening period. Tristan Allard answered at 15:56, sneaking a backhand through Vadim Zherenko’s five-hole to level the game. Roughly 21 seconds later Michael Buchinger drew a penalty shot after being hooked on a breakaway and snapped a forehand through the armpit of Syracuse netminder Brandon Halverson to make it 2-1 for the T-Birds.

Syracuse flipped the script in the final minute of the period. Mitchell Chaffee directed a centering pass that allowed Dylan Duke to score from one knee on the back door at 19:43, a marker that Masslive identifies as Duke’s league-leading 13th power-play goal. Sixteen seconds later Wyatt Newpower beat the buzzer with a one-timer from the right circle to send the Crunch to the locker room up 3-2.

Five minutes into the second period Maxim Groshev converted off an interception by Simon Lundmark, banging home a wrister from the left circle to stretch the lead to 4-2. Springfield continued to press in the middle frame, rattling posts on chances by Matt Luff and Marc-Andre Gaudet, but could not erase the deficit before the third.

Springfield’s power play finally broke an 0-for-9 stretch early in the third when Alek (Aleksanteri) Kaskimäki backhanded his own rebound behind Halverson at 1:29, cutting the gap to 4-3. Syracuse withstood the late pressure and closed out the midweek win, improving to 24-16-3-1 while Springfield falls to 16-22-4-2.

Beyond the boxscore, the game underscored special-teams swings and late-game execution as season-defining factors in the AHL. Duke’s continued production on the man advantage and Newpower’s knack for timely finishes give Syracuse marketable storylines for fans and ticket buyers, while Springfield’s halted power-play skid and the drama of a penalty-shot conversion highlight areas for tactical adjustment. For Syracuse, the victory sustains momentum and home-ice appeal; for Springfield, the narrow loss points to urgent power-play tuning and finishing touches as the club looks to climb the standings. Expect both clubs to lean on those lessons as the schedule compresses toward the playoff stretch.