The Providence Bruins returned from a three-game road trip to Pennsylvania and Ohio in better shape than when they left.

Struggling as they started the week, the P-Bruins took some positive steps and earned four out of six points.

The trip started with a gritty 3-1 win against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Wednesday. The P-Bruins moved on to Cleveland and the offense got untracked in a 7-3 victory over the Monsters on Friday night. In the rematch on Saturday night, Providence led late in the game but gave up two goals and lost, 5-4.

While the P-Bruins finished the weekend in seventh place in the Atlantic Division, they are only four points behind the second-place Hartford Wolf Pack.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— It was the best week of the young season by miles for Fabian Lysell. He scored a goal and assisted on two in Friday’s win, then sniped a goal off the rush and added an assist on Saturday. Lysell now leads the team in scoring with 3-6-9 in 10 games.

— Brandon Bussi won both his starts and added to his already impressive highlight reel with a fabulous stop on Jonathan Gruden of the Penguins. With Providence up by a goal in the final minutes, Gruden had the whole net to shoot at before Bussi, without his stick, slid over and made the save with his blocker glove. Incredible.

— Anthony Richard scored his first goal of the season and assisted on Lysell’s goal on Saturday night.

— John Farinacci stripped flashy Columbus first-rounder Kent Johnson of the puck and, with a nifty backhand finish, scored a breakaway shorthanded goal late in Saturday’s game. He also had an assist. Farinacci is second on the team with 4-4-8 in 10 games and his plus-9 is tied for second in the league.

— Vincent Arseneau had a very good week. His first goal of the season was the game-winner against the Penguins. He posted a Gordie Howe hat trick on Friday that included a one-sided win in the fight. On Saturday, he knocked Samuel Knazko into next week with a clean check.

— The power play went 3 for 7 on Friday.

— Justin Brazeau has goals in two straight games. Jakub Zboril has assists in three games in a row.

— 12 different Providence players recorded points on Friday.

— Luke Toporowski scored twice, including the game-winner, on Friday.

— Curtis Hall, a native of Ohio, was in the starting lineup in his home state for Friday’s game and earned primary assists on two goals.

— Thankfully, the team flew home from Cleveland. By bus, the trip would have been around nine hours.

BAD

— I don’t normally figure callups to Boston into the “Bad” part of this column. After all, providing players to the parent club is why the P-Bruins exist. But it’s worth mentioning Providence was without three top defensemen – Ian Mitchell, Mason Lohrei and Parker Wotherspoon – for the last three games.

— Kyle Keyser’s save percentage in his two starts is .842. Going with three goalies, as the P-Bruins are, isn’t good for anyone.

— Providence faces its first three-in-three weekend starting Friday.

— Play-by-play guys who reflexively gripe “And there’s no call!” every time someone on the team that signs their paychecks goes down need to shut the hell up. Save it for when there really is a missed call. Chances are it won’t be long.

— Speaking of which, referee Jordan Samuels-Thomas was 15 feet away and looking right at it when a Cleveland player’s slash broke the stick of Frederic Brunet in the second period. Seconds later, the puck was in Providence’s net.

— Ahead by one with under three minutes left in Saturday’s game, Providence gave up two goals in 1:32 and lost, 5-4.

UGLY

— The penalty kill is 31^st in the AHL at 70.7 percent. Cleveland scored three power play goals – including two 5 on 3s — on seven chances on Friday.

— It was after 4 a.m. on Thursday when Providence’s bus pulled into Cleveland after Wednesday night’s game at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

— Injured: Joey Abate