ALBANY, NY — The Albany Devils and Springfield Thunderbirds required overtime for the second straight game, as the Thunderbirds came away with a 3-2 win Friday at Times Union Center.
Matt MacKenzie tied the game at two with 52 seconds remaining in regulation which led to Shane Harper’s game-winner. Harper put one past Mackenzie Blackwood on a breakaway at 1:45 of the overtime period.
Jacob MacDonald opened the game’s scoring at 11:00 of the first period with a shorthanded goal for his first career AHL goal. Max Novak led a 3-on-2 rush and dropped a pass back to MacDonald who sent a wrister past Springfield goaltender Reto Berra.
Dylan McIlrath provided the Thunderbird’s first goal at 11:58 of the second period, which tied the game at one until Ben Sexton answered back with a power-play goal at 13:33. The tally was Sexton’s sixth in the last eight games and 19th point overall.
Blackwood stopped 16 of 19 shots as his record moves to 7-7-2-0. Berra made 24 saves on 26 shots for Springfield as he moves to 9-6-2-3.
Albany picked up a point, moving its record to 21-15-1-1. Springfield’s record improves to 15-13-5-2.
The Devils travel to Binghamton Saturday for a 7:05 pm puck drop against the Senators.
