
It was a perfect weekend for the Providence Bruins as they earned six points by winning all three of their games.
Providence put a 5-0 beatdown on the Hershey Bears on Friday night at home. They choked the life out of the Hartford Wolf Pack, 3-1, on the road on Saturday. The P-Bruins closed out the weekend by grinding out a 4-1 victory at home against Hershey.
After starting the weekend in fourth place, Providence held down second place in the Atlantic Division with a points percentage of .610 by the end of the day on Sunday. Springfield is first with .628.
Here’s the good, bad and ugly.
GOOD
— After being a healthy scratch on Feb. 11 and 12, Eduards Tralmaks delivered a five-point weekend, with goals on Friday and Sunday and 1-2-3 on Saturday. Tralmaks has 9-7-16 and a team-leading plus-14 in 28 games.
— Joona Koppanen scored twice and added an assist in the win on Saturday.
— After signing a contract extension earlier in the week, Justin Brazeau recorded an assist in each game while playing on a very effective line with Eduards Tralmaks and Joona Koppanen.
— Providence’s goaltending was tremendous all weekend. Troy Grosenick stopped 65 of 66 shots in earning wins on Friday and Sunday. Kyle Keyser stopped 19 of 20 shots in Saturday’s win. Grosenick also recorded an assist on Sunday. He is 11-3-1. His 2.20 goal-against average is fourth in the AHL and his .922 save percentage is tied for fifth.
— Troy Grosenick made the save of the season so far on Hershey’s Axel Jonsson-Fialby on a two-on-one rush midway through the second period on Friday night.
— Jack Ahcan scored a goal and an assist on Sunday and was a breakout and offensive-zone-entry machine all weekend.
— Cameron Hughes is playing some of his best hockey of the year. On Friday, he scored a shorthanded goal on a great individual effort and added an assist. On Sunday, he assisted on three goals. Hughes leads the team in scoring with 8-21-29 in 37 games.
— The fourth goal on Sunday was a thing of beauty. The passing went from Jack Ahcan to Cameron Hughes to Chris Wagner and back to Ahcan, whose one-timer hit the net for his sixth goal of the season.
— Zach Senyshyn went to the net strong and potted his team-leading 14th goal with two seconds left in the second period on Sunday. It ended up as the game-winner.
— Jesper Froden scored a goal in both games against Hershey.
— The P-Bruins’ power play went 4 for 12 in the three games, including three goals at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, where they’ve struggled with the man advantage this season.
— Sunday’s game drew 9,190, the biggest crowd of the season at The Dunk.
— Ian McKinnon hung in there in a bout early in Sunday’s game with Hershey heavyweight Dylan McIlrath, one of the best fighters in the AHL.
— Providence did not take a penalty in Hartford and held the Wolf Pack to just 20 shots.
BAD
— Midway through the second period on Friday, Providence’s Josiah Didier and Hershey’s Eddie Witchow were in a scrum along the boards when the Bears’ Kale Kessy threw down his gloves and jumped on Didier’s back. Didier and Witchow went to the box, but Kessy received no penalty. Incredible.
— Oskar Steen has no points in five games since he was sent down by Boston.
— The P-Bruins were outshot 9-0 in the first 10 minutes of Friday’s game.
UGLY
— Very dangerous hit by Mason Morelli of the Bears on Josiah Didier on Friday night. Morelli received two minutes for boarding, but deserved a suspension. Didier was fortunate to not be seriously injured.
— Injured: John Moore, Jakub Lauko, Nick Wolff