Jiri Patera is expected to be a key player for Providence this season. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

First things first: The Providence Bruins are not going to win 54 games again, like they did last season.

Many key members of the record-setting 2025-26 team have moved on, including AHL MVP Michael DiPietro, all-world captain Patrick Brown and AHL Coach of the Year Ryan Mougenel.

The top nine scorers a year ago are long gone. The leading returner is Dans Locmelis, who finished 10^th in points on last year’s team.

But despite the huge turnover, the 2026-27 P-Bruins figure to be in the thick of the playoff hunt in the Atlantic Division.

It will be a veteran team, led by new head coach Trent Whitfield, who received a well-earned promotion after a decade as an assistant coach.

“I’m excited. We’re fast. We’ve got some size. We’re heavy. We’ve got some mobility on the back end, some size and jam back there,” he said.

Jeremy Rogalski, Bruins Assistant General Manager, Analytics and Strategy, seconds Whitfield’s optimism.

“We’re going to be a competitive group. We’ve got a lot of players down here who are going to be really hungry to prove themselves and to make an impact,” he said.

“We’ve got a very deep group. We’ve got four lines, three D pairs, two goalies. Guys are going to be fighting for lineup spots every night. I think that’s going to keep the group hungry.”

Trying to predict who is going to finish where in the AHL is often an exercise in futility, but Providence has the makings of an excellent team.

“It looks like a deep division. Anything can happen at the end of the year, in the playoffs, as you’ve seen. Really, the goal is to get in the mix,” said Rogalski.

“And the development piece. You’ve got guys who want to get back to the NHL, guys who want their first NHL game.”

Here’s a breakdown of how the team looks:

FORWARDS

Whitfield is upbeat about what he has.

“I think we’re going to have a ton of speed up front. We’re going to be able to play fast, which I like. We’ve got the potential to score a lot of goals. We’ve got some guys that have scored in this league for a long time,” he said.

Locmelis, whose stock as an excellent NHL prospect continues to rise, is coming off an impressive training camp with Boston. He will get top-line minutes.

Brian Halonen is a proven AHL scorer. He put up seasons of 20, 27 and 20 goals in the last three years with Utica.

Alex Steeves, a second-team AHL All-Star after a 36-goal season with Toronto in 2024-25, is expected to be highly motivated to work his way back to the NHL after spending 2025-26 in Boston.

Lukas Reichel has speed to burn and is a proven point-producer in the AHL.

Brendan Gaunce, in his second stint in Providence, is a veteran leader who contributes at both ends of the ice.

The Bruins signed Attilio Biasca out of the Swiss league over the summer. It’s hard to predict how he’ll adjust to the AHL, but it appears he’ll have an opportunity to start the season in the top six.

Rounding out the forward group are Joey Abate, Jake Schmaltz, Riley Duran, Cross Hanas, Ivan Ivan, Navrin Mutter and Wyatt Bongiovanni. They are all solid AHL players.

DEFENSE

The D corps looks to be deep and well-rounded with Jordan Harris, Henri Jokiharju, Billy Sweezey, Tobie Paquette Bisson, Max Guenette, Max Wanner, Loke Johansson, Ty Gallagher, Chris Ortiz and Dylan MacKinnon.

“We’ve got some mobility on the back end, some size and some jam back there,” said Whitfield.

It remains to be seen how long Jokiharju remains in Providence. As an established NHL player, he could draw trade interest from a team that finds itself short on D.

GOALIE

Asking any of Providence’s goalies to live up to what DiPietro did last season would be unfair.

But the team should be in good hands with newcomer Jiri Patera and returnees Simon Zajicek and Luke Cavallin.

Patera is a 27-year-old veteran who has put up strong numbers in the AHL.

PREDICTION

As Whitfield put it, “From the goaltender on out, we’re in a good spot.”

Look for the P-Bruins to be a hard-working, entertaining team that finishes in the top half of the Atlantic Division.

Youngstown’s Cooper Simpson was a First-Team All-Star in the USHL last season. (Photo courtesy of Scott Galvin/Scott Galvin Photography)

Cooper Simpson is still a few years away from challenging for a job with the Boston Bruins.

But the arrow on his development is pointing straight up after a big season in the USHL with the Youngstown Phantoms.

The 19-year-old from Minnesota, who projects as a scoring winger, will be at development camp at Warrior Arena starting Monday. He’ll be a freshman at North Dakota in the coming season.

Picked in the third round of the 2025 NHL Draft by Boston, Simpson earned First Team All-Star honors in the USHL as he put up 34-40-74 totals in 61 games.

“Individually, I thought I had a really good year. I improved in many ways, on and off the ice. But as a team, we wish and I wish we did a lot better,” Simpson said.

“We were the best team all year in the regular season, so it kind of sucked losing in the second round. We had the mindset of winning the whole thing.”

Expectations are high in Youngstown every season and Simpson jumped in without hesitation.

“He embraced that and ran with it. I think that’s the type of kid he is,” said coach Ryan Ward, a native of Assonet, Mass., who guided the Phantoms to the USHL’s Clark Cup championship in 2023.

Simpson credited Ward with teaching him a lot over the course of the year.

“Overall, being consistent all over the ice. On offense, the ability to score and make plays. Defensively, I learned a lot of new habits. I learned that I have to play both sides of the puck to be a good player,” Simpson said.

“(Ward) taught me habits — backchecking, little stick details and positioning. It made me a better player. He also helped me mature a lot and become a leader. That helps me out on and off the ice.”

Heading into Simpson’s first season in Youngstown a year ago, Ward said, “People were a little bit down on his attitude, his compete. But, honestly, not one day did I have issues with either of those.

“He competed his ass off. He was absolutely wonderful to coach. He worked so hard and was a winner,” said Ward.

“He’s a very laidback kid. He’s got his own sense of humor, his own personality. But as a coach you can push him as hard as you need to push him. He’s very receptive to it. He’s a very coachable kid,” said Ward.

Parker Mackay, Bruins’ player development coordinator, seconds that opinion.

“What I like about working with Cooper is he’s not afraid to hear criticism. He seeks information. He’s very coachable,” Mackay said.

Throughout the season, Simpson displayed the soft hands, quick release and blistering shot that that made him a standout at Shakopee, Minn., High School, where he scored 49 goals in 31 games as a senior.

“Coop can score so many different ways. He can score on his one-timer. He can score downhill. He can score off the cycle,” said Ward.

“He took a major step in extending possession, protecting pucks in the offensive zone. He turned into a player that can be dangerous in a lot of different ways.

“His ability to be a threat in different ways is pretty indicative to me of future success in pro hockey.”

Mackay was impressed with the uptick in Simpson’s consistency from shift to shift.

“Not only with the puck, but away from the puck. I think he did a really good job this year of adding layers to his game. He became more conscientious away from the puck, knowing where he should be positionally in his own end,” Mackay said.

“There were stretches when he dominated offensively, not just on the stat sheet but the way he possessed pucks, demanded pucks, just took over games.”

After Youngstown’s season ended, Simpson took a couple of weeks off to rest and recharge. Since then he’s been skating with other college players, including Bruins prospect Will Zellers, who will be a teammate at North Dakota.

He’s better prepared for his second development camp.

“Last year was getting a feel for everything and getting to know the staff. I was kind of like a little kid – first year out of high school, just graduated,” Simpson said.

“This year I’m more ready, more comfortable with the staff in Boston after a year, made some good relationships and I feel like I’ve improved my game. I’ve gotten stronger. I feel pretty good going into camp.”

He’ll move in at North Dakota on July 7 and will be a player to watch on a powerful team playing in the strongest league in the country.

“It’s going to be fun to see how he takes that step in the NCHC. It’ll be a fun challenge for him,” said Mackay.

As far as development is concerned, Simpson is going to be in a good place.

“As he continues  to grow, North Dakota is going to be great for him, being in that environment every day,” said Ward.

Springfield is offside entering the offensive zone seconds before scoring in overtime to win Game Three.

After a historic regular season, the heavily favored Providence Bruins crashed and burned in the playoffs, losing to the Springfield Thunderbirds, three games to one, in the Atlantic Division semifinals.

What was expected to be an exciting postseason run was over before it started. It was the most disappointing end to a season in franchise history.

In Game Three on Tuesday in Springfield, Providence lost, 3-2, in overtime on a goal that was clearly offside. The linesman blew the call, plain and simple, but there is no review of offside in the AHL, so the goal stood.   

For the league, it was the most embarrassing outcome in recent history.

In Game Four on Thursday, Springfield clinched the series with a 1-0 overtime win.

And just like that, Providence’s season was over.

Full credit to Thunderbirds coach Steve Ott, captain Chris Wagner, goalie Georgi Romanov and the rest of the roster. Springfield was the better team.

Providence looked nothing like the team that rolled to an AHL-best 54-16-2 record in the regular season.

“It’s obviously disappointing. I’m more disappointed for the players. I know they wanted ultimately to have success, but at the end of the day we just didn’t execute,” said coach Ryan Mougenel.

“Losing a couple of the guys on the back end (Christian Wolanin and Victor Soderstrom) hurt our puck-moving abilities. We just couldn’t get out of our own end. That was an issue.

“But (Springfield) played really well. They played us harder. I take responsibility. As somebody that leads the group, it’s important to understand the desperation. I just don’t know if it was there,” he said.

Regarding the blown offside in the third game, “How we lost was obviously tough to swallow, for sure,” said Mougenel.

“The guys worked. It was a great group (this season). We just didn’t get it done.”

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— After putting up a .930 save percentage in the regular season, Michael DiPietro posted a .931 save percentage in the playoffs.

— Matt Poitras led the team in scoring with 1-3-4 in four games.

BAD

— Providence scored only six goals in the four games. Hard to win that way.

— After going 9-2 in overtime in the regular season, the P-Bruins lost both OT games in the Springfield series.

— Despite what happened at the end of Game Three, you can’t use bad officiating as an excuse for losing. Having said that, the players and fans deserve much, much better than they got from the officials in this series.

— In hindsight, Providence didn’t have the depth for a playoff run. They used two ECHL players on PTOs against the Thunderbirds.

UGLY

— Losing a playoff series to a team that you finished 38 points ahead of in the regular season is as ugly as it gets.

— Injured: Christian Wolanin, Victor Soderstrom, Dans Locmelis

Mike DiPietro stops Chris Wagner on a breakaway in Sunday’s game. DiPietro stopped 27 of 28 shots, including 14 in the third period. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

The Providence Bruins split the first two games of their best-of-five Atlantic Division semifinal series against the Springfield Thunderbirds at home over the weekend.

After earning a first-round bye in the regular season, Providence waited13 days until the series with Springfield opened.

Looking sluggish at times, the P-Bruins dropped Game 1, 3-2, on Friday night. In the second game on Sunday, Providence beat the T-Birds, 2-1, to even the series at 1-1.

“Our urgency was there from the get-go,” said coach Ryan Mougenel after Sunday’s win. “I’m proud of how the guys responded. Playoffs aren’t easy. There’s good lessons for our guys. There’s no easy ice out there.”

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— As he has been all season, AHL MVP and two-time Goalie of the Year Michael DiPietro was a difference-maker in Game 2. He stopped 27 of 28 shots, including all 14 in the third period, when the T-Birds had some good chances.  

— Frederic Brunet turned in a strong game on Sunday with primary assists on both Providence goals.

— Matej Blumel scored a goal in Game 1 and opened the scoring in Game 2.

— Matt Poitras earned primary assists on both Providence goals and played a feisty game on Sunday.

— Playing his first game after joining the team last week on a PTO, Drew Callin scored just 3:12 into Game 1.

— Navrin Mutter dished out several hard hits on the forecheck early in Game 2, helping the P-Bruins get off to a good start.   

BAD

— If Christian Wolanin is not able to play on Tuesday, the P-Bruins will be without two top defensemen in Wolanin and Victor Soderstrom, both of whom log power play time.

— The officiating in the first two games was … uneven.

“The penalties really killed the mojo, for both sides,” Mougenel said after Game 2. “It was interesting, the standard was different from (Game 1).”

— Springfield had 13 power plays in the first two games. Providence had nine.

UGLY

— Injured: Christian Wolanin, Victor Soderstrom, Fabian Lysell, Dans Locmelis

The Providence Bruins stumbled across the regular-season finish line with a pair of losses over the weekend.

Resting several of their top players on Friday night, they dropped a 4-1 decision on the road against the Utica Comets.

At home on Saturday night, with a chance to set an AHL record for single-season point percentage, the P-Bruins lost, 4-2, to Utica, which needed to win to keep their playoff hopes alive. It was a flat end to a wildly entertaining regular season.

“We weren’t playing how we needed to play to win. We weren’t valuing the things that we value. We’re a team that, we can’t just put our sticks in and go play and feel good about ourselves. We have to have a certain workers’ mindset,” said coach Ryan Mougenel.

“It got away from us in the second period and in the third. We took a lot of penalties, which is a little bit uncharacteristic. Then they stole the momentum and that’s what teams that are desperate, that’s what you have to do to win. We didn’t have the desperation that they had.”

Next up is the playoffs, where anything can happen, regardless of where you finished in the regular season.

“Are we the most talented bunch? I wouldn’t say that. I would say that we’re a good team and when we play the way we need to play, we’re tough to beat,” said Mougenel.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— The P-Bruins finished with the best record in the AHL at 54-16-2. They earned a bye in the first round of the playoffs and are the top seed in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference.

— Michael DiPietro was named to the AHL First All-Star Team for the second year in a row. He finished with a 34-8-1 record with a .930 save percentage and 1.91 goals-against average, three shutouts and three assists.

— Patrick Brown was named winner of the AHL’s Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award, which goes to the player who “best exemplifies the qualities of sportsmanship, determination, and dedication to hockey.” Brown ended the regular season with a career-best 20-34-54 in 70 games. His plus-36 was second in the AHL.

— Matej Blumel scored Providence’s only goal on Friday night and posted a goal and an assist on Saturday. He finished with 21-31-52 in 58 games.

— Georgii Merkulov had an assist on Friday and a goal on Saturday. He led the team in scoring for the fourth straight year with 24-37-61 in 70 games.

— Frederic Brunet had an assist on Friday and two on Saturday. He paced Providence defensemen with 12-24-36 in 65 games.

— Providence had the top road power play in the league at 26.5 percent.

— They went 40-4 in games where they scored the first goal. They won all four of their games that went to a shootout.

— Providence went 37-12-1 against the Atlantic Division and 17-4-1 against the North Division.

BAD

— No one knows when the P-Bruins will play their next game. Too much time off can be a problem.

— Providence shot itself in the foot by taking seven penalties on Saturday.

— After watching referees Mike Dietrich and Johnny Daniels work Saturday’s game, here’s hoping all the AHL referees raise their game in the playoffs the same way the players will.

— Matt Poitras had a good season, but his production dried up down the stretch. He’s gone 13 games without a goal and nine games without a point.

— In contrast with the AHL-best road power play, the home PP finished 28^th at 15 percent.

— It was after 3 a.m. on Saturday when the bus arrived back from Utica.

UGLY

— Injured: Dans Locmelis, Victor Soderstrom

Providence Bruins posed for a picture after clinching the AHL regular season title on Sunday. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

The Providence Bruins won all three of their games over the weekend.

A 4-1 road win over the Hartford Wolf Pack on Friday got things started. At home a night later, the P-Bruins beat the Rochester Americans, 6-3. On Sunday afternoon at home, Providence edged Springfield, 1-0.

With the victory on Sunday, Providence clinched the MacGregor Kilpatrick Trophy, which is awarded to the AHL’s regular season champions. It’s the fourth time the P-Bruins have finished first overall. They also won the trophy in 1998-99, 2007-08 and 2012-13.

“It’s really cool. It goes to show how hard we’ve worked all year and what a special group we’ve got, gutting it out for as many games as we have,” said captain Patrick Brown.

“I just think that everyone should be really proud in that room of how we’ve played so far, but we’re not done yet.”

Here’s the good, bad and ugly

GOOD

— The P-Bruins are 54-14-2. The 54 wins is a record for most wins in a 72-game season.

— Against Rochester, Matej Blumel, Patrick Brown, and Georgii Merkulov each posted a goal and an assist and Riley Tufte and Christian Wolanin recorded two assists each. 

— Providence outshot Rochester, 24-2, in the second period.

— After missing nearly a month with the concussion, Fabian Lysell scored twice on Saturday, snapped a stretch of 11 straight games without a goal.

— Christian Wolanin and Colin Felix were plus-three on Saturday.

— The line of Blumel, Brown and Tufte combined for 20 shots against Rochester. Blumel had nine, Brown six and Tufte five.

— In Hartford, John Farinacci and Frederic Brunet each put up a goal and an assist. It was Brunet’s first game since going down with an upper-body injury on March 20.

— Providence’s balanced scoring continues to be the envy of the league. They have nine players with 11 or more goals.

— Riley Tufte is tied for second in the league with 32 goals in 64 games.

BAD

— The home power play continues to be stuck at 15.6 percent, which is 27^th in the league. I still say the fans yelling, “Shoot,” are to blame.

UGLY

— Injured: Victor Soderstrom, Alexis Gendron, Dans Locmelis

The Providence Bruins came home from last week’s New York road trip with five out of six points.

They beat the Utica Comets in a shootout, 3-2, on Wednesday. Facing an excellent opponent in Syracuse on Friday, they beat the Crunch, 4-2. They lost in overtime, 2-1, against the Rochester Americans on Saturday.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— Providence is 51-14-2. They lead the AHL with 104 points and a .776 points percentage. They are 10 points ahead of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the Atlantic Division.

— Mike DiPietro was brilliant in the shootout win in Utica, stopping five of six shooters. It was his league-best 32nd victory. His .929 save percentage and 1.95 goals-against average continue to be No. 1 in the AHL. His three assists are tied for the league lead.

— Matej Blumel scored his 18^th goal in Utica and buried the deciding goal in the shootout.

— Simon Zajicek was sharp in stopping 24 of 26 shots in the win in Syracuse.

— Max Wanner played a strong game against the Syracuse, scoring his first goal of the season and dishing out some hard hits.

— They went 1 for 2 on the power play against the Crunch and 1 for 3 against the Amerks.

— Navrin Mutter posted his first goal as a P-Bruin to open the scoring in Syracuse.

— Georgii Merkulov had two assists on Friday and one on Saturday. He leads the team with 21-35-56 in 65 games.

— Patrick Brown scored twice in Syracuse. With 19 goals, he has matched his career high.

— James Hagens had assists in Syracuse and Rochester. He has 1-3-4 in 6 games.

BAD

— With Christian Wolanin and Frederic Brunet out with injuries, five of the six defensemen in the lineup in Syracuse and Rochester were righthanded.

— After taking the lead in the third period in Utica, Providence allowed the Comets to tie the game 64 seconds later.

— That’s all I’ve got for bad this week. With 51 wins in 67 games, there’s very little to complain about.

UGLY

— Injured: Christian Wolanin, Frederic Brunet, Alexis Gendron, Fabian Lysell

James Hagens cclebrates his first goal as a pro on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

As they’ve done several times recently, the Providence Bruins won two out of three games this week.

They edged the Springfield Thunderbirds on the road, 2-1, on Wednesday. Back at home, they beat the Bridgeport Islanders, 6-4, on Saturday and then lost to Springfield, 4-2, on Sunday.

“(Springfield) played well. We weren’t emotionally involved early. That hurt us a little bit. Sometimes you’ve got to drag yourselves into it and talk yourselves into it. I just didn’t think we had that today,” said coach Ryan Mougenel after the loss.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— Providence finished the weekend with a record of 49-14-1. They are in first place in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference with 99 points and a .773 points percentage.

— Riley Tufte is having his best year as a pro. He scored a goal in Springfield and then posted a hat trick and an assist against Bridgeport. He has 31-22-53 and is plus-27 in 57 games. He has the most goals by a P-Bruin since Frank Vatrano scored 36 in 2015-16.

— First rounder James Hagens played his first three games as a pro and the reviews were all positive. He scored his first goal with a power play rip on Saturday and made a nice play to set up a goal on Sunday.

“I don’t think anybody was particularly great (on Sunday), but I really liked 12’s (James Hagens) second and third period. I thought he was excellent, starting to feel it at little bit,” Mougenel said.

— Joey Abate scored a goal on Saturday and earned assists on Wednesday and Sunday. He has points in six straight games with 4-4-8 totals.

— Georgii Merkulov had a goal and an assist on Saturday and a goal on Sunday. He is tied with Tufte for the team lead in scoring with 21-32-53 in 62 games.

— Overshadowed by Tufte’s hat trick and Hagens’ first goal, Poitras turned in a strong game against Bridgeport with three primary assists. His totals for the season are 13-31-44 in 60 games.

— Christian Wolanin grabbed the puck for Hagens after the rookie scored his first pro goal. Wolanin, who has been a fabulous addition for the P-Bruins, posted two assists in the game.

— The Bruins stood up for Hagens. Navrin Mutter fought Springfield’s Wyatt Newpower after Newpower threw a hard hit on the Bruins rookie and every Bruin on the ice got involved in the scrum after Hagens was roughed up by Bridgeport’s Luke Rowe.

— After some good work in the neutral zone by linemates Abate and Riley Duran, Jake Schmaltz raced in and scored the game-winner in the third period in Springfield.

— For the second straight season, Providence went 11-1 against Bridgeport.

BAD

— Providence allowed two goals in 67 seconds in the first period against Bridgeport.

— Referees Damian Figueria and Austin O’Rourke flat-out blew the call when they disallowed a Providence goal for goalie interference in Springfield. There was no interference on the play.

— Providence is 25^th in the AHL in power play opportunities with 206.

— The PP went 0 for 6 on Sunday.

UGLY

— Injured: Frederic Brunet, Alexis Gendron, Dans Locmelis, Fabian Lysell

The Providence Bruins won two out of three games last week.

They started with a 6-3 loss on the road against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Wednesday. In Utica on Friday, they trailed 0-2 after one period before rebounding for a 4-3 victory over the Comets. Back home at the AMP on Saturday, Providence scored goals 30 seconds into the first period and 52 seconds into the third period on the way to a 5-2 win against Utica.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— As of Sunday, Providence was 47-13-1 and in first place by a mile in the Atlantic Division. They are 41 points ahead of last-place Hartford.

— The P-Bruins are closing in on their fourth 50-win season and fifth 100-point season in franchise history.

— Providence is eighth in the AHL in both power play (20.6 percent) and penalty kill (84.6 percent).

— Here’s a weird one: Providence’s road PP is best in the league at 26.8 percent, but at home it’s 29^th at 14.4 percent.

— With a goal on Saturday, Georgii Merkulov took over the team lead in scoring with 19-31-50 in 59 games. Said it before and I’ll keep on saying it, he deserved much more time than he got in Boston over the last couple of years.

— Joey Abate is on a roll with 4-4-8 in his last seven games. He had 1-1-2 on Wednesday and 2-0-2 on Friday. In the first minute of the game on Saturday, he won a wall battle, raced into the offensive zone and dished the puck to Jake Schmaltz for a goal.

— Matt Poitras continues to play a good two-way game. He scored a goal in Allentown, fed Abate some nice sauce for a goal in Utica, and made a slick pass to Merkulov for a goal on Saturday. He has 13-27-40 in 58 games.

— Riley Tufte’s strong season rolls on. After scoring twice on Saturday, he has a career-best 27 goals. For the year, he has 27-21-48 with a plus-27 in 54 games.

— Victor Soderstrom had himself a week with 1-2-3 on Friday and an assist on Saturday.

— Alexis Gendron’s two assists on Wednesday were his first points with Providence. He followed that up with a power-play goal on Friday.

— Riley Duran had a goal and a helper on Saturday.

BAD

— Giving up three goals in 3:05 in the second period, the P-Bruins ended up allowing a season-high six goals against Lehigh Valley.

UGLY

— Injured: Frederic Brunet, Dans Locmelis, Fabian Lysell

Ty Gallagher wore the fireman’s jacket after scoring a hat trick on First Responder’s Night on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

The Providence Bruins took two out of three last week.

They beat the Springfield Thunderbirds in overtime, 3-2, on the road on Wednesday. Back home on Saturday, they obliterated the Hartford Wolf Pack, 7-0, before losing to the T-Birds, 4-3, at the AMP on Sunday.

“We should have won that game and it’s disappointing because that’s a team that we knew could come and bite us and they did,” coach Ryan Mougenel said after Sunday’s loss.

“It’s a lesson learned and it’s an important lesson as we go through this. Things that we value and that are important – winning the wall war – cost us the tying goal.

“I don’t like how fluffy we were in the offensive zone at all, just fluffy on the outside. When we play direct, we’re a real good team, but when we play on the outside, we’re not,” he said.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— Providence slipped ahead of Grand Rapids for first overall in the AHL with a record of 45-12-1 for 91 points and a points percentage of .784. In the Atlantic Division, they lead second-place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton by nine points with two games in hand.

— The P-Bruins are 9-1 in overtime games and 3-0 in shootouts.

— New arrival Lukas Reichel provided an immediate injection of skill. In his Providence debut, he assisted on a goal and scored in overtime to win the game in Springfield, then put up three assists and was plus-four against Hartford.

— By the time Mike Callahan scored Providence’s fifth goal in the third period on Saturday, Hartford had only five shots on net. The shots were 33-7 for the P-Bruins midway through the third period.

— Michael DiPietro posted two more wins, raising his record to 28-6, and his second shutout. He continues to lead the league with a .936 save percentage and 1.80 save percentage.

— Ty Gallagher recorded a hat trick and had a fight in Saturday night’s game. He had two assists on Sunday.

— Six of Providence’s seven goals on Saturday were by defensemen. Three by Gallagher, two by Victor Soderstrom and one by Mike Callahan.

— Matej Blumel had a goal and an assist on Saturday and two goals on Sunday. He has 17-26-43 and plus-20 in 44 games.

— Matt Poitras had two assists and was plus-four on Saturday and scored Providence’s first goal on Sunday.

BAD

— Fabian Lysell picked a fight with Hartford’s Jackson Dorrington near the end of Saturday’s 7-0 blowout. It was a dumb idea. Not only was he embarrassed in the fight, he came out of it with an injury.

— The P-Bruins were penalized for too many men not once but twice in Wednesday’s game.

— Providence hasn’t let many third period leads slip away but it happened on Sunday. They led 2-1 with 10 minutes left, but lost, 4-3.   

UGLY

— Injured : Dans Locmelis, Fabian Lysell