Good, bad & ugly from Providence Bruins week

Chris Wagner, Jack Studnicka and Zach Senyshyn celebrate a goal on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

The good times continue to roll for the Providence Bruins.

They won all three of their games over the last week and in the process took over first place in the Atlantic Division.

On the road on Wednesday, the P-Bruins trailed Lehigh Valley 29 minutes into the game, but scored three straight and went home with a 5-3 win. Before a sellout crowd in Springfield on Saturday, Providence rolled to a 5-1 victory over the Thunderbirds and jumped into first place. Back home on Sunday, Providence pulled out a 5-4 win in overtime against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

“It shows when guys care. You see (Victor) Berglund block a huge shot there at the end. I don’t know if three months ago I would have been saying that. It’s starting to get to be part of these guys’ DNA,” said Mougenel after Sunday’s game. “We celebrate the little things here and I think it’s translating into wins.”

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— The P-Bruins have won four in a row and eight of 10.

— Cameron Hughes is playing tremendous hockey. He scored twice on Sunday and has 6-10-16 in the last 10 games.

— Kyle Keyser came on in relief of the injured Troy Grosenick against Lehigh Valley and stopped 12 of 14 shots to secure the win. He stopped 26 of 27 shots in Springfield and he bent but didn’t break in kicking out 33 shots in Sunday’s win against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He stuffed Drew O’Connor of the Pens twice on breakaways.

— Jack Studnicka was on fire in Springfield with 1-3-4. He has now scored a goal in five straight games at MassMutual Center. He’s played 10 career games in Springfield and has 9-2-11. He scored a goal in Sunday’s win, too.

— The defense pair of Victor Berglund and Brady Lyle put up impressive numbers on Sunday. Berglund had a goal and an assist. Lyle recorded two assists. Both were plus-4.

— Steven Fogarty scored a goal and two helpers against the Phantoms.

— Chris Wagner scored twice on Saturday night, including the game-winner, and was named first star.

— Oskar Steen won Sunday’s game in overtime with a terrific individual rush. He had 2-2-4 in the three games.

— Zach Senyshyn scored his 15th and 16th goal against Lehigh Valley.

— In his first fight of the season Sunday, J.D. Greenway pummeled Drew O’Connor of the Pens.

— Fifteen of Providence’s 25 remaining games are at home.

BAD

— Inexplicably, referees Patrick Hanrahan and Mason Riley didn’t call penalties on two blatant collisions in the crease involving Troy Grosenick and Kyle Keyser on Wednesday night in Allentown. Grosenick had to leave the game 3:41 into the second period when he was bowled over in the blue paint. Keyser was kicked in the head a few minutes into the third period. Both times Lehigh Valley forwards barged into the crease and made contact without any help from Providence defenders.

— In the same game, the misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct on Jack Studnicka after a scrum late in the second period was a head-scratcher. Two players exchange words in a scrum and one of them goes to the box for 10 minutes? Questionable.

— After being outshot 10-1 in the third period on Sunday, the P-Bruins gave up the tying goal with three seconds left in regulation time.

UGLY

— Troy Grosenick, John Moore, Nick Wolff, Matt Filipe

— Lehigh Valley’s Hayden Hodgson was suspended for three games by the AHL for elbowing Blake Hillman on Wednesday night. It’s the second time Hodgson has been suspended for a hit on a P-Bruins player. His cheap shot on Ian McKinnon in November earned him a two-game suspension.

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