Springfield stuns Charlotte 5-2, forces deciding Game 3 in Atlantic series

Springfield did not just answer its Game 1 collapse, it erased it with one late-second-period burst that flipped the Atlantic Division first-round series on its head. Zach Dean and Chris Wagner scored 49 seconds apart Friday night at Bojangles Coliseum, turning a one-goal deficit into a one-goal lead and powering the Thunderbirds past Charlotte 5-2 to force a deciding Game 3.

The response came in a game that had already swung wildly. Charlotte struck first again when Trevor Carrick scored 3:52 into the opening period, but Springfield steadied itself long enough to reset the tone. Wyatt Newpower, scratched in Game 1, tied it in the second period with his first goal as a Thunderbird. Ludvig Jansson pushed Charlotte back in front only 52 seconds later, but the Thunderbirds did not blink. Dean answered, then Wagner followed almost immediately, and that rapid-fire sequence changed the entire feel of the night.

Georgi Romanov supplied the other half of the turnaround. Starting after not dressing in the opener, Romanov made 29 saves and gave Springfield the kind of calm in net that had been missing in the 8-1 loss that opened the series. Hugh McGing then buried a shorthanded goal with 3:13 left while Charlotte was on a late power play, sealing the win and underlining how much sharper Springfield looked when the game tightened.

The result mattered far beyond one night. Charlotte entered as the defending Eastern Conference champion, a club with a 44-23-5-0 regular-season record and eight straight postseason appearances, and it had already beaten Springfield six times in eight regular-season meetings. The Checkers had also won three of four at home against the Thunderbirds. But Springfield, which finished 19-13-2-0 under Steve Ott after he took over on Jan. 20, answered the pressure with its best version of playoff hockey. The Thunderbirds had clawed back from a 2-10-2-1 start to make the postseason for the second straight year and fourth time in the last five seasons, and Friday’s comeback fit that survival instinct.

It also sharpened the stakes of a matchup with real organizational weight. Springfield and Charlotte are meeting in the Calder Cup Playoffs for only the second time, after Springfield swept the 2022 Atlantic Division Finals on its way to the Calder Cup Finals. Charlotte will try to avoid becoming a quick upset victim at a rink where Springfield had been outscored 24-5 in its previous three visits, but now all of it comes down to one game. Game 3 on Saturday will decide which team keeps moving and which one sees a promising spring end before it truly takes off.