It was another good weekend for the Providence Bruins as they won both their games against teams they are trying to beat out for an Atlantic Division playoff spot.

The P-Bruins started with a 7-4 win on Saturday over a Springfield Thunderbirds team that packed an entire games’ worth of mistakes into a six-and-a-half-minute stretch of the second period. They followed that up with a tight 2-1 victory over the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins on Sunday. Both games were at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

“These are big points because these teams are chasing us,’’ coach Jay Leach said after Sunday’s game. “(Wilkes-Barre Scranton) plays really hard and (goalie Dustin Tokarski) always plays well against us. That was a tall task for us.

“We were beneficiaries with them being on the end of a three-in-three and that was only our second game, but we got it done, to our credit. It was a good win.’’

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— Providence has won 5 straight and now has 31 wins. Only four teams in the league have more.

— The P-Bruins finished the weekend in third place in the Atlantic Division with a .618 points percentage. Hartford is just ahead of them with .645. Just behind are Charlotte (.603) and Springfield and Wilkes-Barre Scranton, both with .554.

— Brendan Gaunce scored twice and set up a goal on Saturday and made a good pass to Steven Kampfer for a goal with .04 on the clock in the second period on Sunday. It turned out to be the winning goal. Gaunce has 5-3-8 in his last 6 games and is tied for third in the league with 6 game-winners.

— The P-Bruins exploded for six goals in 6:36 in the second period against the Thunderbirds.

— Steve Kampfer made a smart play on his goal on Sunday. Knowing that the clock was running out and he wouldn’t be caught out of position, he busted for the net and scored with .04 left.

— Zach Senyshyn had a good weekend with two assists on Saturday and a goal on Sunday.

— Trent Frederic had two assists on Saturday and one on Sunday. He leads the team with 22 helpers.

— Max Lagace stopped 20 shots on Sunday in posting his 20^th win of the season. He is tied for second in the AHL in wins.

— Both Paul Carey and Jack Studnicka scored their 20^th goals of the season against Springfield. Carey had 2-1-3, while Studnicka and Peter Cehlarik had 1-1-2.

— Robert Lantosi scored on Saturday, breaking a stretch of 10 games without a goal.

BAD

— Daniel Audette of Springfield buried Zach Senyshyn with a cheap, blindside hit on Saturday.

— Providence is 24^th in the AHL on the power play at 15.5 percent.

UGLY

— Injured: Jakub Lauko, Chris Breen, Brett Ritchie

The Providence Bruins swept all three of their games over the weekend, firming up their hold on the fourth and final playoff slot in the Atlantic Division.

The P-Bruins started with a very solid 4-2 win over a good Wilkes-Barre / Scranton team on Friday. They beat Laval, 3-0, on Sunday, then edged Bridgeport, 3-2, on Monday. All three games were at home.

“There’s not much better than a six-point weekend,’’ said P-Bruins coach Jay Leach. “We had a really tough week. We put the work in. I think we were unhappy with the weekend before, so the guys recognized that and went to work.’’

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— With Monday’s win, Providence has a .604 points percentage. They are just behind third-place Charlotte (.608) and ahead of Springfield and Wilkes-Barre / Scranton, both with .547.

— Josiah Didier had a tremendous game on Friday night. He scored his first goal of the season and was a rock on defense, blocking numerous shots, especially after the Penguins pulled their goalie for an extra attacker. “His effort, from the beginning of the season til now, has been the same every night. We rely on him. Our players watch him play the right way and they follow suit,” said Leach.

— Oskar Steen is playing his best hockey of the season. He had two assists on both Friday and Monday and has 2-7-9 in his last 10 games. “It’s taken him some time to get used to the league. That’s normal,’’ said Leach. “He’s clearly more comfortable. He’s not thinking, he’s playing. He’s inside. He’s a little scrappy from time to time, which is good. He works and he pays attention to detail. He’s coming along pretty nice.’’

— The P-Bruins are getting excellent goaltending. Dan Vladar, who posted his third shutout with 32 saves on Sunday, leads the AHL with a .934 save percentage and a 1.79 goals-against average. Max Lagace is ninth in the league with a .918 save percentage and a 2.44 goals-against average. His 19 wins is second in the AHL.

— Providence scored the first goal in all three games.

— Brendan Gaunce has goals in three straight games and points in four straight.

— Joona Koppanen chipped in with a big insurance goal in Friday night’s win.

— Brett Ritchie rocked a Laval player on the forecheck in the third period on Sunday, leading to a Providence goal.

— Ryan Fitzgerald has goals in two straight games and points in three straight.

BAD

— Robert Lantosi has gone 10 games without a goal.

— The P-Bruins had no power plays in Friday night’s game. Wilkes-Barre / Scranton had four.

— Zach Senyshyn has gone three straight games without a shot on goal.

— Providence was outshot, 16-6, in the third period against Laval.

UGLY

— Injured: Peter Cehlarik, Chris Breen, Jakub Lauko, Brett Ritchie

It was a down weekend for the Providence Bruins as they earned just one of a possible four points in their two games.

The P-Bruins dug themselves an 0-3 hole in the first period in Bridgeport on Saturday and went on to lose, 4-2. At home on Sunday, they scraped out a point, losing in overtime, 2-1.

“Very disappointing weekend. We didn’t play well (Saturday) night for two periods, then in the third period we came along, but couldn’t bury,’’ said coach Jay Leach.

“Then (on Sunday) at times I thought we were OK, we generated, we just couldn’t score. We need to score. That’s the bottom line. Our power play needs to score. We need to bury some of these chances we’re getting or we’re going to make it really hard on ourselves.’’

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— Jack Studnicka was very good in both games. He scored his AHL-leading sixth shorthanded goal on Saturday and did in style, pulling off the one-handed finish made famous by Peter Forsberg but also accomplished by former Bruin Rosie Ruzicka.He continues to lead the team in scoring with 18-18-36 in 48 games.

— The P-Bruins managed to hang onto the fourth and final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division.

— Providence’s next five games are at home.

— After he came on in relief of Max Lagace, Dan Vladar stopped all 14 shots he faced in the final 40 minutes on Saturday.

— Brendan Woods had a good weekend. He scored a goal on Saturday and did most of the work on Zach Senyshyn’s goal on Sunday.

— Paul Carey buckled Parker Wotherspoon with one punch on Sunday.

BAD

— After going 0 for 8 on the weekend, the power play has dipped to 24^th in the league at 15.6 percent.

— The P-Bruins could beat Christopher Gibson just twice on 46 shots in Bridgeport and Jared Coreau only once on 36 shots at home.

— Bridgeport scored on its first two shots and three of its first eight on Max Lagace in the first period on Saturday.

UGLY

— Injured: Peter Cehlarik, Chris Breen, Jakub Lauko

The Providence Bruins lost one and won one on their trip to New York over the weekend.

After a 3-1 loss to the Binghamton Devils on Friday, the P-Bruins rebounded with a 6-2 victory against the Syracuse Crunch on Saturday.

The win kept Providence in third place in the very tight Atlantic Division playoff race.

“We played the way we wanted to play for the first 15 minutes of the game. It was a good response from (Friday night),’’ coach Jay Leach said after the win in Syracuse. “We got into some penalty trouble and our goaltender stood tall for us. We were able to score on the power play and I thought we had a really solid third on the road for a big two points.’’

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— It was a very good week for Jack Studnicka. After scoring three goals at the AHL All-Star Classic on Monday, he tallied Providence’s only goal in Binghamton on Friday. The next night in Syracuse, Studnicka scored twice and added two assists. His first goal came on a nifty finish on a breakaway in the first period. His second assist was a beautiful setup to Joona Koppanen. He leads the P-Bruins in scoring with 17-18-35 in 46 games.

— After scoring a goal and two assists against Syracuse, Oskar Steen has 5 points in 5 games.

— Nice work by Dan Vladar in Syracuse. After coming in cold when Max Lagace left the game with an injury with 17:18 left, Vladar stopped all seven shots that he faced.

— The power play went two-for-four on Saturday.

— Stick tap for Josiah Didier, who was signed to a two-year contract extension. Didier stood up for Dan Vladar after Binghamton’s Nathan Bastian collided with him.

— Steven Kampfer was hit in the upper body with a slapshot in Syracuse, but returned to the game and scored his first goal of the season. Stick tap for the equipment staff, which quickly handed Kampfer a new stick after he snapped one. He has 1-4-5 in 8 games.

BAD

— A pileup in the corner that grew out a big hit by Josiah Didier late in the game in Binghamton somehow resulted in 36 minutes in penalties. Seems like three or four minor penalties would have covered it.

— Despite a four-point game in Syracuse, Jack Studnicka was not selected as one of the three stars of the game.

— Providence gave up 21 shots in the first period on Saturday.

— Not sure if it was missed assignments or a bad bounce off a defensive zone draw, but the puck ended up in Providence’s net for Binghamton’s first goal on Friday.

— The P-Bruins gave up a power play goal and a shorthanded goal in the loss to Binghamton.

— A power play goal by Providence was taken off the board in the second period in Binghamton because the net was off its pegs, but it appeared to be Devils’ goalie Gilles Senn who knocked it off.

UGLY

— Injured: Cameron Hughes, Chris Breen, Peter Cehlarik, Jakub Lauko