
The wins keep on coming for the Providence Bruins.
Combining superb goaltending from Dan Vladar and Jeremy Swayman with timely scoring, they extended their winning streak to three with a pair of wins and are 4-1 on the season.
The P-Bruins edged Bridgeport, 1-0, on Friday and beat Hartford, 5-2, on Sunday. Both games were on the road.
Going back to last season, Providence has won 16 of its last 17 games.
Here’s the good, bad and ugly.
GOOD
— Vladar, now sporting a .957 save percentage, stopped all 24 shots in shutting out the Sound Tigers. Swayman, unbeaten in three starts, was outstanding in kicking out 34 shots against the Wolf Pack. His save percentage is .928.
— Paul Carey assisted on Zach Senyshyn’s GWG in Bridgeport and had two assists in Hartford. He was very good down the stretch against the Wolf Pack as Providence worked to close out the win. While he’s not known as a big hitter, he blew up Hartford’s Patrick Sieloff with a punishing hit. With five points, Carey is tied for the team scoring lead with Jakub Lauko.
— Brady Lyle scored his first goal as a pro in Hartford and it turned out to be the game-winner. He chipped in an assist, too.
— Senyshyn continues his strong start to the season. He sniped the GWG against the Sound Tigers and added an empty-netter in Hartford. He leads the team with three goals and is playing a very solid game in all three zones.
— Oskar Steen had a good game against the Wolf Pack and scored his first goal of the season off a nice pass from Anton Blidh.
— Sammy Asselin chipped in with two assists in Hartford.
— Nick Wolff played his best game so far against Bridgeport, according to Leach. On Sunday, Wolff didn’t hesitate for a second after Hartford’s Mason Geertsen delivered a solid hit on Steen in the first period. He dropped his gloves and went at Geertsen, who is a tough dude.
BAD
— Bringing in a player on short notice from the ECHL or elsewhere isn’t really an option this season because of the pandemic, so Providence was able to dress only 17 skaters instead of 18 in Hartford after Jakub Lauko was hurt against Bridgeport. And by the end of the game, after Cameron Hughes and Wolff left with injuries, they were down to 15 skaters.
— Bad is too strong a word to describe the P-Bruins’ power play this weekend, but they did go 0 for 7. Not good might be a more fitting description.
UGLY
— Both Hughes and Wolff left blood on the ice at the XL Center in Hartford when they were hit in the face by pucks and had to be helped to the dressing room.
— Injured: Jakub Lauko (day to day), Curtis Hall (week to week), Josiah Didier, Brendan Woods