Great photo by Chris Emerson of one of Max Lagace’s great saves on Sunday.  This one on Joel Lowry in the third period might have been his best, as he slid across the crease to glove the shot.

Finally snapping out of their scoring funk, the Providence Bruins won both of their games over the weekend.

The P-Bruins beat the Springfield Thunderbirds, 5-2, on the road on Saturday night, then won in a rematch at home, 5-3, on Sunday afternoon. The wins helped them keep pace in the Atlantic Division playoff race.

“We were ready to play today,’’ coach Jay Leach said after Sunday’s game. “We certainly know the importance of these games. When you play a team 14 times and you’re two points away from each other in the standings, you’re certainly looking at your season and your opportunity to be in the playoffs. We did a good job of recognizing that opportunity.’’

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— After scoring a total of three goals in their previous four games, Providence put up five goals in two consecutive games.

— The P-Bruins helped themselves with strong starts in both games. They took the lead at 3:13 on Saturday and at 2:52 on Sunday. They are tied for the AHL lead with 17 wins when scoring first.

— Karson Kuhlman scored an empty netter on Saturday for his first goal of the season. He was a standout on Sunday, winning races all over the ice and scoring a goal and an assist.

— Anton Blidh scored a greasy rebound goal from the top of the crease on Saturday, then converted a penalty shot on Sunday for his first two scores of the season.

— Brendan Woods had a good weekend. He earned an assist on Saturday, then scored Providence’s first and last goals on Sunday. He was involved physically in both games. Woods has seven goals, matching his total for last season.

— Trent Frederic has hit a lot of posts and crossbars this season, but he got a very lucky bounce on Saturday when a carom off the boards left him with an empty net for Providence’s first goal. It was Frederic’s first goal in nine games. Frederic had a Gordie Howe hat trick on Saturday.

— Dan Vladar’s save percentage is .935 after he stopped 26 shots on Saturday.

— On his 27^th birthday on Sunday, Max Lagace made some of his most spectacular saves of the season, absolutely robbing Jonathan Ang, Henrik Borgstrom and Joel Lowry.

— Brendan Gaunce had a goal and an assist on Saturday and has 1-3-4 in his last three games.

BAD

— The P-Bruins lost Robert Lantosi to an eye injury early in Saturday’s game after he was checked into the boards by Joel Lowry.

— Since returning from injury on Dec. 21, Zach Senyshyn has gone eight games without a point.

— The P-Bruins’ power play is 21^st in the league at 16.3 percent.

UGLY

— Injured: Cameron Hughes, Robert Lantosi, Jakub Lauko