Wagner's Hat Trick Powers Thunderbirds Past Utica, 6-3

Chris Wagner delivered the kind of night a newly minted captain is supposed to deliver. The Springfield Thunderbirds' fifth captain in franchise history scored three goals Saturday at the MassMutual Center, carrying his team to a 6-3 victory over the Utica Comets before a sellout crowd of 6,793 and snapping a three-game losing streak in the process.

The night could have unraveled almost immediately. At 2:26 of the first period, newly acquired defenseman Wyatt Newpower was handed a five-minute major for kneeing Jack Malone and a game misconduct, ending his Springfield debut before it barely started. With a full five minutes of four-on-five hockey staring them down, the Thunderbirds turned to goaltender Vadim Zherenko. He stopped all four Utica shots during the major, and Springfield killed the penalty clean. The momentum never shifted to Utica.

Wagner had signaled the tone even before Newpower's penalty. He put two shots on net in the opening 40 seconds, and Springfield outshot Utica 5-1 in the first two minutes. That early aggression set the table for a multi-goal performance that earned Wagner first-star honors.

Aleksanteri Kaskimaki was everywhere offensively, finishing with three assists and earning the second star. Thomas Bordeleau rounded out the stars with a goal and an assist; his empty-net goal, which stretched Springfield's lead late, was his seventh of the year.

Utica did make things uncomfortable. After Wagner extended the lead to two goals, Angus Crookshank answered just 59 seconds later with his 17th goal of the season to cut it to 4-3. The Comets outshot Springfield 7-1 in the stretch following Crookshank's goal and dominated the final period 15-5 on shots. None of it was enough. Wagner settled the issue with an empty-net hat trick goal, and Bordeleau added another empty-netter immediately after to put the game out of reach at 6-3.

Zherenko finished with 33 saves on 36 shots, anchoring a penalty kill and a defense that bent considerably late but never broke. Jakub Malek stopped 22 of 26 for Utica.

Springfield improved to 23-27-6-2 on the season. Utica, which had entered on a two-game winning streak after beating the Laval Rocket the previous night, dropped to 22-28-5-4. For head coach Steve Ott's club, ending the three-game skid behind a hat trick from the new captain was precisely the kind of statement night they needed.