Thanks to an outstanding performance in net from goaltender Reto Berra, the Springfield Thunderbirds defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 1-0, at the Mohegan Sun Arena Friday night.

The Thunderbirds' lone tally came from Ryan Horvat in the first period, while Berra finished with 23 saves in the shutout.

Springfield stormed out of the gates Friday, controlling possession for most of the game's opening period. In registering eight of the game's first ten shots, the Thunderbirds created early chances and then struck on a strange play.

Horvat broke through some tight neutral zone checking to gain the left-wing side of the offensive zone. As he was being marked closely, he wristed a soft roller toward the crease. Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry attempted to push the rebound into the near side corner, but accidentally caromed it into his own goal, as it bounced off the inside of his leg pad.

Horvat's goal at 9:25 proved to be the lone tally of the first period, as both teams failed to register on power play chances late in the period. Reto Berra kept busy in net during the final half of the period, as the Penguins started testing the Springfield goalie.

Berra's best save of the first came off a long-distance slapper by Chad Ruhwedel, which kicked off the end boards to Ryan Haggerty in the slot. With his team on the power play, Berra came out of the paint to challenge Haggerty, and he managed to get a piece of the shot of it with the arm.

The second period brought similar results for the Penguins, as they could not strike on two more power-play chances. Berra continued to battle through Wilkes-Barre/Scranton screen attempts and kept the Springfield lead at 1-0 through 40 minutes.

Springfield's power play continued to get chances, but the Penguins' kill remained perfect in their first nine attempts on the season, as the Thunderbirds could not hit the net on two second-period man advantages.

The Penguins pushed the envelope in the third looking for the equalizer, but Berra remained stout. His two best saves came off a point-blank shot by Kevin Porter just moments after the Thunderbirds turned the puck over inches in front of the blue line.

Then, with the goaltender pulled, the Penguins fired a last ditch effort, which Berra stopped with the stick off a re-direction from a Chad Ruhwedel point shot as time expired.

The win pushes the Thunderbirds to a 2-1-0 road start heading into the home opener on Saturday night in Springfield.

The Thunderbirds will open their home ice schedule at the MassMutual Center tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 22 for Opening Night presented by MGM Springfield against the St. John's Ice Caps. The game is set to start at 7:05 p.m. Preceding the game is the T-Birds Tailgate from 4-6 p.m. at Court Square, adjacent to the MassMutual Center.