Matthew Kessel (UMass) picked the right time to score his first professional goal. Kessel connected just over five minutes into overtime to lift the visiting Springfield Thunderbirds to a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Wolves on Sunday in the opener of the AHL's 2022 Calder Cup Final.
Jack Drury (Harvard) opened the scoring for Chicago midway through the first period, before Springfield's Matthew Peca (Quinnipiac) set up a goal by Hugh McGing (Western Michigan) and then scored one of his own before the end of the first frame. Drury then assisted on one of two second-period goals, the go-ahead marker by David Gust (Ohio State), to help the Wolves to a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes.
Less than 30 seconds after Chicago made it a two-goal game early in the third stanza, Tommy Cross (Boston College) pulled Springfield back within a goal, before Dakota Joshua (Ohio State) set up the game-tying goal with less than a minute-and-a-half remaining in regulation. Cross then assisted on Kessel's game-winner in sudden-death OT.
Charlie Lindgren (St. Cloud State) earned the win in goal for Springfield, making 33 saves on 37 shots. Alex Lyon (Yale) took the loss in net for the Wolves, stopping 30 of 35 shots.
Kessel, 21, a defenseman from Bloomfield Hills, Mich., joined the Thunderbirds this spring after finishing a three-year career at UMass. He tallied 23 goals and 28 assists for 51 points and 86 penalty minutes in 100 outings, and was also part of the Minutemen's 2021 NCAA national title team. He notched three assists in 15 regular-season AHL appearances with the Thunderbirds, after being drafted 150th overall by Springfield's parent club, the NHL's St. Louis Blues, in 2020.
Game Two of this year's Calder Cup Final is scheduled for Monday night at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill.
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