The Providence Bruins continue to play well as January winds down. They won twice on the weekend, sandwiched around a shootout loss.  They beat Springfield, 2-1, in a shootout at home on Friday; lost in a shootout in Bridgeport, 4-3, on Saturday; and won 5-2 over Hartford at home on Monday.

“Anytime we get five out of six points with the way the schedule works out in our division is terrific. Obviously we’re a desperate team trying to climb the standings,’’ said coach Jay Leach.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

*** Zane McIntyre was brilliant in the shootout  win against Springfield on Friday, shutting down all six Thunderbirds shooters. He made one of his better saves of the season on Monday, sliding across to stop Hartford’s Ville Meskanen. McIntyre has won his last six starts and eight of his last 10. “The last month he’s given us a chance to win every night, which is all we can ask for,’’ said Leach.

*** Paul Carey had a strong weekend, finishing with a hat trick on four shots on Monday. He had six shots on both Friday and Saturday. Carey made a good pass to Mark McNeill for a power-play goal in Bridgeport.

*** Karson Kuhlman scored a goal on Friday, an assist on Saturday and had 1-1-2 on Monday. He has 13 points in his last 13 games. He had seven shots in Bridgeport.

*** The P-Bruins finished the weekend in fifth place in the Atlantic Division with a winning percentage of .547. They are only a few percentage points behind fourth-place Springfield (.558) and third-place Lehigh Valley (.583). Second-place Bridgeport (.591) is within reach, too. The top four teams in the division make the playoffs.

*** Connor Clifton made a perfect pass to Carey for a goal on Monday, and added an empty-net goal with 1:40 to go.

*** Trent Frederic scored the winner on Friday in Providence’s first shootout of the season.

*** Kyle Cumiskey sent a gorgeous, long-distance breakaway pass to Zach Senyshyn, who finished with a nifty snipe in Bridgeport.

*** With a team-high 14 goals, Jordan Szwarz is on pace for the third straight season of at least 20 goals with the P-Bruins. He played his 400th AHL game on Monday.

*** It’s been a strong January for the P-Bruins. They are 6-1-1-1 for 14 out of 18 points, with two games left.

BAD

*** Up 3-1, the P-Bruins gave up two goals in 2:45 in the opening minutes of the third period and went on to lose in the shootout in Bridgeport. Providence outshot the Sound Tigers, 32-16.

*** They piled up eight shots during a power play in overtime but couldn’t score.

*** Even though Hartford’s John Gilmour lost an edge and fell down on his own while rushing the puck in the third period on Monday, Referee Beaudry Halkidis sent Chris Breen to the box for tripping.

*** Dan Vladar has won just one of his last eight starts.

*** Tanner Pond took a five-minute major for checking from behind and a game misconduct on Friday night.

*** On Friday, Providence took yet another delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass.

UGLY 

*** Injured: Ryan Fitzgerald, Jeremy Lauzon. And Anders Bjork is finished for the season after undergoing another shoulder surgery last week. It’s a tough break for the young winger.