Cranley Loses Jersey in Fight with Domingue as Springfield Wins 5-1

Springfield closed out a 5-1 win over the Charlotte Checkers at the MassMutual Center on Military Appreciation Night before a sellout crowd of 6,793, and with eight seconds remaining Will Cranley and Louis Domingue "met at center and dropped the mitts for a goalie fight, the first in T-Birds history, which left the sellout crowd in an uproar to close out the victory."

The scoring burst started early when Zach Dean "provided instant offense on Friday night, and the third-year pro experienced deja vu on this night, jabbing home a 2-on-1 pass from Hugh McGing just 2:20 into the action to give Springfield a 1-0 lead." Springfield turned that into a short-lived avalanche that produced three goals in a 2:50 span to create a decisive margin.

That quick run included a play where Jakub Stancl "circled the offensive zone to the right circle before firing the puck back toward the goal mouth. Dylan Peterson parked himself right outside the crease and allowed the puck to ricochet off his skate and past Gerasimyuk to make it a 4-1 game, chasing Gerasimyuk from the game in the process." Charlotte starter Martin Gerasimyuk was replaced after the Peterson deflection.

Charlotte's backup Louis Domingue entered and "did not fare much better, as McGing revved up the ice on a breakaway 55 seconds later. McGing was tripped and may have earned a penalty shot, but as he was falling, the puck continued on a straight line path under Domingue's legs, giving McGing credit for the third T-Birds goal in a 2:50 blitz, extending the lead to 5-1." There were no additional goals the rest of the game.

The late altercation drew national attention. FloHockey ran the headline "GOALIE FIGHT: Will Cranley Loses Jersey In Tense Fight With Louis Domingue" and wrote, "We had a goalie fight in the AHL where one goalie lost his jersey and both hit the showers early as Will Cranley and Louis Domingue squared off." Social posts and an Instagram snippet amplified the video, with the original report noting the brawl "quickly went viral with videos shared by prominent hockey accounts."

Springfield entered the night 21-25-5-2 while Charlotte came in 30-18-4-0. The Thunderbirds note their status as an affiliate in the Eastern Conference: "As members of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference of the American Hockey League (AHL), we are proud to serve as the primary developmental affiliate for the St. Louis Blues in the NHL." The T-Birds make a one road stop on Wednesday against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for a 7:05 p.m. puck drop at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza, and fans can order tickets by calling (413) 739-GOAL (4625).