Springfield Stuns Providence Again, Braves Upset Bid Nearing History

Springfield did more than beat Providence in Game 3. The Thunderbirds put the league’s most lopsided-looking matchup on the brink of becoming an upset story, and they did it with one more overtime finish that changed the series immediately.

Zach Dean scored 3:45 into overtime on May 5 to lift Springfield to a 3-2 win and a 2-1 lead in the Atlantic Division semifinal. Calle Rosén scored twice, giving the Thunderbirds the kind of timely offense that has kept them alive despite missing several regular forwards and defenders. Providence entered the series with 54 regular-season wins and a 38-point advantage over Springfield, so every extra minute the Thunderbirds survived has pushed the Bruins closer to a result that would have looked unthinkable when the bracket was set.

Steve Ott made sure the message after the win was about the players who were forced into larger roles. He praised his depth group for playing their “tails off,” and that was the story of Springfield’s night as much as Dean’s overtime finish. The Thunderbirds also got another boost this week with the arrival of two more St. Louis Blues prospects, defenseman Adam Jiříček, the Blues’ 2024 first-round pick at No. 16, and forward Justin Carbonneau, the Blues’ 2025 first-round pick at No. 19. For a team already hanging around the edge of history, that kind of reinforcement only sharpened the urgency.

The other Eastern series carried the same kind of pressure. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton beat Hershey 4-3 on Rutger McGroarty’s redirection 5:02 into overtime to grab a 2-1 series lead, ending a seven-game postseason losing streak against the Bears in the process. Alexander Alexeyev, now on the Penguins’ side after his time in Hershey, had two assists, and Sergei Murashov stopped 31 shots for his first career Calder Cup Playoff victory. Avery Hayes also sealed the game with an empty-net goal with 54.1 seconds left, his eighth goal in eight games against Hershey this season.

Taken together, the two series showed exactly what the 2026 Calder Cup Division Semifinals can become in a best-of-five format: one night away from elimination, one overtime away from history. Springfield had already taken Game 1 in Providence, 3-2, and then struck again in Game 3. If the Thunderbirds win again, they will finish off one of the AHL’s biggest upset bids of the season. If Providence answers, the series shifts from shock to survival in a hurry.