In control from start to finish, the Springfield Thunderbirds advanced to the Calder Cup Finals on Wednesday night with a 4-0 Game 7 win over the Laval Rocket at MassMutual Center.
Winners of the Richard F. Canning Trophy as Eastern Conference champions, the Thunderbirds will be making the first Finals appearance by a Springfield AHL club since the Indians won back-to-back titles in 1990 and 1991.
The Thunderbirds will take on the Chicago Wolves in the championship series beginning Sunday afternoon in Rosemont, Ill.
Springfield, 0-for-29 on the power play in the series entering Game 7, scored twice with the man advantage and peppered Cayden Primeau with 15 shots in the first period and 20 more in the second.
Dakota Joshua scored twice, Matthew Peca and Nathan Todd added single goals, and former Montreal Canadiens farmhand Charlie Lindgren became the 12th goaltender in AHL history to record a Game 7 shutout, finishing with 34 saves.
Primeau made 36 saves for the Rocket.
A2-Springfield Thunderbirds vs. N3-Laval Rocket
Game 1 – Sat., June 4 – SPRINGFIELD 2, Laval 1 (OT)
Game 2 – Sun., June 5 – Laval 4, SPRINGFIELD 2
Game 3 – Wed., June 8 – Springfield 6, LAVAL 3
Game 4 – Fri., June 10 – LAVAL 3, Springfield 2 (OT)
Game 5 – Sat., June 11 – Springfield 3, LAVAL 2 (OT)
Game 6 – Mon., June 13 – Laval 5, SPRINGFIELD 1
Game 7 – Wed., June 15 – SPRINGFIELD 4, Laval 0