The 2023-24 Providence Bruins season came to a disappointing end with a pair of overtime losses in Hartford.
The P-Bruins fell, 3-2, on Wednesday and, 2-1, on Friday and lost the series against the Wolf Pack, three games to one.
After routing Hartford, 6-0, in Game 2, the P-Bruins scraped together a total of only three goals in the final two games.
“The guys battled extremely hard. We didn’t have a ton of puck luck but sometimes you’ve got to create those chances. At the end of the day, we needed guys to score,” said coach Ryan Mougenel after Friday’s loss.
“It’s just tough. We were real rusty that first game (a 4-3 loss on May 1). We lose two overtime games. That’s kind of the Achilles heel of best out of five. It’s disappointing. It’s almost a disadvantage to have the bye. For us it was.”
Here’s the good, bad and ugly.
GOOD
— Providence had one foot in the grave in the third period of Game 4 but dug deep to tie the game and force overtime on John Farinacci’s goal. It was the rookie’s first goal in 21 games.
— Ian Mitchell was a standout for Providence throughout the series. He finished with 2-2-4 in the postseason, tied for the team points lead with Jimmy Lambert.
— Considering how well Jimmy Lambert played against Hartford, you wonder why he spent most of the season with Maine of the ECHL. Lambert was fast and physical and played with a lot of juice. He recorded assists in Game 3 and 4 and finished with 2-2-4, tied with Ian Mitchell in points.
— Brandon Bussi stopped 83 of 88 shots in the final three games of the series for a .943 save percentage.
— While the ending was tough, it was an entertaining and productive season. Most important from a Bruins point of view, Justin Brazeau, Parker Wotherspoon, Jesper Boqvist, Johnny Beecher and Mason Lohrei moved up to contribute in Boston after spending varying amounts of time in Providence.
BAD
— Providence hasn’t won a playoff series since 2017, when they beat Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Hershey before losing to the Syracuse Crunch in the Eastern Conference Final. (There were no playoffs in ’20 and ’21 because of Covid.)
They’ve gone a combined 258-141-35-21 in the regular season since then, but the lack of postseason success leaves a sour taste.
— Providence caught no breaks in OT in either game. The Hartford goal that ended the season on Friday came on a shot that hit the crossbar and deflected into the net off the leg of Jake Leschyshyn, whose stick was tied up by a Bruins defenseman.
— Georgii Merkulov with 30 and Anthony Richard with 25 were Providence goal leaders in the regular season. Neither one scored a goal against the Wolf Pack.
— After playing in Hartford on Wednesday night, the P-Bruins bussed home to Providence. Then they made the return trip to Hartford on Thursday afternoon and stayed over for Friday’s game. That’s two two-hour bus rides within 14-15 hours. That didn’t have any impact on the outcome on Friday, but why not stay over after Wednesday’s game?
— Providence was caught with too many men on the ice with 2:58 left in the third period on Friday. Yeesh.
— Fabian Lysell took a hooking penalty in the neutral zone in the first period of Game 3. Hartford scored on the power play. Jimmy Lambert received a tripping penalty in the first period of Game 4. The Wolf Pack once again cashed in on the power play.
— Providence went 0 for 6 on the power play in the last two games.
— Losing Vincent Arseneau to injury just one shift into Game 3 was a tough blow for the P-Bruins. Before that, Arseneau made a lot of Hartford players very nervous every time he stepped on the ice.
UGLY
— Injured: Alec Regula, Fabian Lysell, Vincent Arseneau