Matthew Peca’s give-and-go finished with him firing a shot past Cayden Primeau 9:32 into overtime to give the Springfield Thunderbirds a 2-1 win over the Laval Rocket in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final on Saturday night.
Matthew Kessel drew the defence to him before making a cross-ice pass to Peca who made no mistake for his third goal of the playoffs. The win for Springfield moved them to 7-0 during the post-season, and was their 11th straight win going back to the regular season.
The goal came after some missed opportunities for the Rocket, who outshot Springfield 9-7 in the extra frame, and 42-39 overall.