Hartford rallies twice but falls 4-3 to Springfield on Saturday

Brendan Brisson did enough to flip the script, but Hartford’s mistakes were too deep to fully dig out of. The Wolf Pack’s young scorer matched his career high with his 19th goal, added a second late push on the power play, and still walked off with a 4-3 loss to Springfield at the MassMutual Center.

That was the story in sharp relief for Hartford, which outshot the Thunderbirds 18-4 in the opening period and still trailed by two after 20 minutes. Dillon Dube opened the scoring at 14:14 by redirecting Aleksanteri Kaskimäki’s shot, then struck again at 19:07 from long range to make it 2-0. Springfield made the most of a first period in which it spent most of its time defending, and Hartford paid for not turning that territorial edge into a lead.

The hole got deeper early in the second when Juraj Pekarcik scored at 5:45 to push Springfield ahead 3-0. Hartford finally found its response from Brisson, who sparked the comeback off a turnover sequence, and Aidan Thompson followed with a hard-working finish to pull the Wolf Pack within one. Then came a swing moment that could have changed everything: Anton Blidh was handed a double-minor, but instead of Hartford cashing in on the opening, Springfield answered with another Hugh McGing goal to restore a two-goal cushion.

Brisson kept coming. He jammed in a loose puck at the crease on the power play in the third period, tying his career high with his 19th goal and cutting the deficit to 4-3. Hartford pressed hard from there and put 15 shots on net in the final frame, but the equalizer never came. The push was real; the finish was missing.

That is what made the loss sting more than a typical late-season result. Hartford had already beaten Springfield 7-5 on Friday at PeoplesBank Arena and 3-1 the week before at the MassMutual Center, so the Wolf Pack knew they could score on this team. But this one was decided by the first-period damage and the inability to manage the key stretches after falling behind. Springfield, which clinched a Calder Cup Playoff berth on April 15 and is heading to the postseason for the fourth time in five years, protected its place in the Atlantic Division picture while Hartford closed its regular season empty-handed. For Brisson, acquired by the Rangers from Vegas on March 6, 2025 after being drafted 29th overall in 2020, the two-goal night was a strong exclamation point. For Hartford, it was a reminder that offense alone does not erase the cost of giving away a game early.