Springfield Thunderbirds Outlast Iowa Wild 8-6 in Des Moines 14-Goal Thriller

Springfield outlasted Iowa 8-6 in a 14-goal thriller in Des Moines on Feb. 14, capped when Matt Luff hit an empty-netter with 26 seconds remaining. Luff finished with one goal and two assists, and Jakub Stancl also recorded a goal and two assists as Springfield’s offense came from all angles.

Springfield opened the scoring 1:20 into the game when Otto Stenberg beat Cal Petersen on a 2-on-1. Iowa answered at 3:53 on the power play when Tyler Pitlick jabbed a backhand rebound past Georgi Romanov after a sequence that began with Hunter Haight’s pass to the goal line and Ben Jones’ initial shot. At 6:36 a play listed as “Zach Dean deflected a point shot from Quinton Burns through Petersen,” and Springfield added goals from Theo Lindstein at 9:15 and Jakub Stancl at 9:46. With the clock winding down in the first, Nic Aube-Kubel set up Jack Peart for a buzzer-beating tally that sent Iowa into the locker room trailing 4-3.

Springfield extended the margin early in the second when Chris Wagner went to a knee and redirected a power-play feed from Matt Luff at 1:32 to make it 5-3. Through two periods Iowa led in shots 18-16, but Springfield’s offense continued to dominate the scoreboard.

The third period began with Michael Buchinger converting on the man advantage at 2:37 to push Springfield’s lead to 7-3. Iowa mounted a furious comeback: Dylan Gambrell buried a rebound on a 5-on-3 power play at 8:04 with assists from Ben Jones and Hunter Haight, and David Jiricek followed at 12:47 with a blue-line slap shot that caromed in, again set up by Jones and Haight, pulling Iowa within two at 7-5. Caedan Bankier then scored to make it 7-6 late; team reports agree Bankier’s goal cut the margin to one but conflict on the timing and description of the play, listing either 16:32 or with 3:28 remaining as the clock time. In the end Luff’s empty-netter with 26 seconds left sealed the game for Springfield.

Iowa’s game report called the contest a “Saturday night barnburner.” The Wild and Thunderbirds each finished 2-for-5 on the power play. Iowa outshot Springfield 29-26 in the final shot count, and the reported goaltender figures listed Cal Petersen with 10 saves before William Rousseau entered for the third and was credited with eight saves; Georgi Romanov was credited with 23 saves for Springfield. Those goalie totals and the shots on goal are reported as listed in team material.

Springfield’s 18-24-4-2 mark improved with a club-record night on the road as the Thunderbirds’ eight goals came from eight different players. Iowa fell to 13-28-4-1 and will travel to Allstate Arena to face the Chicago Wolves on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 11 a.m. Officials should be consulted for confirmation of arena naming and the official boxscore to reconcile a few timing and goaltender-save discrepancies in the team reports.