Anthony Richard has six goals in his last five games. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

The Providence Bruins finished the calendar year on a high note as they rolled to three straight road victories in the final week of 2023.

They started with a 5-4 win over the Bridgeport Islanders on Wednesday. They moved on to Utica and recorded a 5-2 victory against the Comets on Friday. And then on Saturday night, in front of a sellout crowd in Springfield, Providence handed the Thunderbirds an 8-2 beating.

While the first three months of the season have been a rollercoaster, the P-Bruins at 17-12-2-2 held down second place in the Atlantic Division and third place in the Eastern Conference as the week and the year came to an end.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— Georgii Merkulov scored a goal and added an assist on Wednesday. His strong play with and without the puck earned him a well-deserved callup to Boston.

— Anthony Richard had a very good week with 2-1-3 in Bridgeport and 1-2-3 in Springfield. He has six goals in his last five games.

— Fabian Lysell had one of his best games of the season in Utica with two goals and an assist. His pass to Jesper Boqvist for a goal in the final minutes of the second period against the Comets was a beauty. Lysell finished the week with 2-4-6 in the three games. He got his first AHL fighting major under his belt, too, as he took on Keean Washkurak in Springfield.

— Jesper Boqvist had two goals against Utica and 1-2-3 in Springfield. He has 7-6-13 in his last eight games.

— Justin Brazeau has 2-6-8 in his last six games.

— Alec Regula was plus-two in Bridgeport, plus-three in Utica and plus-four in Springfield. He leads the AHL with plus-25. His D partner Dan Renouf was also plus-four on Saturday is second in the league with plus-18.

— In his 100^th AHL game on Wednesday, Mike Callahan scored his first two goals of the season.

— Mikey DiPietro stopped 37 shots, including 19 in the third period, in the win in Utica.

— Brandon Bussi recorded wins in both of his starts. He denied Zachary Bolduc on a penalty shot on Saturday after Lysell hauled down Bolduc.

— Just down from Boston, Patrick Brown had a goal and an assist and six shots against the Thunderbirds.

— Rookie defenseman Ethan Ritchie scored his first AHL goal in his third game on Saturday.

— The power play went 5 for 13 in the three games, including 3 for 6 on Saturday.

— The eight goals in Springfield was a season-high.

— Springfield goalie Vadim Zherenko beat Providence twice in October, but has been pulled in his last two starts against the P-Bruins. He gave up four goals on 15 shots in just over one period on Nov. 10 and five goals on 23 shots in half the game on Saturday.

— Every skater in the Providence lineup had at least one shot on goal against Utica.

— They went 9-4-1 in the month of December while playing 10 road games. They are 12-7-1-0 on the road.

BAD

— Providence has allowed 103 goals in 33 games. Only four teams have yielded more.

— They’ve given up an AHL-high 987 shots on goal.

— The P-Bruins are only 5-5-1-2 at home.

UGLY

— Injured: Jakub Zboril

Georgii Merkulov has 9-9-18 in his last 13 games and is fourth in the AHL in scoring with 28 points in 30 games. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

‘Twas the week before Christmas and the Providence Bruins made the rounds from Toronto to Rochester to Hershey, with middling results, before finally hitting the holiday break.

They started with a 7-3 loss against the Toronto Marlies on Wednesday, a game that got away from the P-Bruins in the third period.

Then it was on to Rochester, where Providence dug deep for a come-from-behind 6-3 win on Friday that snapped a four-game losing streak. Unfortunately, they lost Dan Renouf, who took a skate near his eye.

The team hit the road to Hershey, arriving in the wee hours. On Saturday, Providence was undermanned on defense because of Renouf’s injury and the recall of Ian Mitchell by Boston, but they hung in and turned in a respectable performance in a 4-3 loss to a Hershey Bears team that is running away with the Atlantic Division race.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— If there is a better player than Georgii Merkulov in the American Hockey League right now, well, please point him out to me. The second-year pro from Russia is driving his line and putting himself in good position for an NHL callup.

He had 1-1-2 against the Marlies and 2-1-3 against the Americans. Merkulov has 9-9-18 in his last 13 games and has moved up to fourth in the AHL in scoring with 13-15-28 in 30 games.

— Of course, Merkulov’s linemates, Justin Brazeau and Jesper Boqvist, are a big part of his success.

Brazeau had a goal and an assist in Toronto and two helpers in Rochester. He is tied for second on the team in scoring with 9-11-20 and plus-11 in 30 games.

Boqvist had a goal and an assist in both Toronto and Rochester. His goal on Friday was the game-winner. He has 7-11-18 games in 28 games.

— Anthony Richard scored twice against Rochester and once in Hershey.

— Trevor Kuntar took advantage of a turnover and scored on a quick wrister to give the P-Bruins the lead in Rochester. He was his typical snarly self in all three games, to the point where Hershey’s fearsome Dylan McIlrath was looking to get a piece of him on Saturday.

— Reilly Walsh had 1-1-2 against Hershey.

— Joey Abate’s hustle led to Vincent Arseneau’s goal on Saturday. Abate had a good bout with Brendan Warren of the Americans on Friday.

— Providence outshot Toronto, 17-2, in the first period on Wednesday night.

BAD

— Since winning seven in a row, Providence has gone 1-4-1 and been outscored, 29-17.

— Using three raw rookies on defense – two of them just up from the ECHL and another who probably would be well-served by spending some time there – is not a formula for AHL success, especially when you are playing the league’s best team on the road in front of a big Saturday night crowd. But the P-Bruins really had little choice but to use Frederic Brunet, Ryan Mast and Ethan Ritchie on Saturday night. There was no one else. Such is life in the AHL when injuries and callups hit.

— Brandon Bussi didn’t have very much support, but in two games against Toronto, he faced 42 shots and gave up 11 goals.

— Power plays were four to one in favor of the Marlies in Toronto. Not saying Providence didn’t earn its four penalties, but not convinced the home team didn’t deserve more than one.

— Luke Toporowski has gone 12 games without a goal.

— The P-Bruins gave up a goal 69 seconds into the first period and 14 seconds into the third period against the Marlies.

UGLY

— After tying the game in the third minute of the third period in Toronto, Providence was blitzed for four straight goals and lost, 7-3. Two of the goals, 1:12 apart, were while the teams were playing four on four.

— Injured: Dan Renouf, Jakub Zboril

Fabian Lysell gets ready to fire the puck for Providence’s only goal on Sunday. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

After winning seven straight from Nov. 24 to Dec. 9, the Providence Bruins have fallen fell back to earth, earning only one point in their last three games.

They started their week on Wednesday with a 3-2 road loss in overtime against the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears. That turned out to be the high point.

Back home on Friday, Providence was blown out, 8-2, by the Toronto Marlies. The P-Bruins had the night off Saturday, but rest didn’t help. The Syracuse Crunch, who did play on Saturday and traveled from Utica after their game, beat the low-energy P-Bruins, 4-1, on Sunday.

At 13-10-2-2, Providence was tied with Springfield for fourth place in the Atlantic Division at the end of the day on Sunday.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— The positive news concerning the power play, which is 23rd in the AHL, is that it produced a goal against Hershey, two against the Marlies and one on Sunday against Syracuse.

— Joey Abate had a good game in Hershey with a goal and four shots. He was fortunate that his wrist was not broken on a reckless slash by Mike Sgarbossa in the second period. A two-minute penalty was called on the play, but it easily could have been a major and a suspension.

On Friday, Abate took issue with a hit on John Farinacci by Matteo Pietroniro of the Marlies and fought the Marlies defenseman.

— With a goal on Friday, Georgii Merkulov scored in his fourth straight game.

— Luke Toporowski made a good play to take the puck to the net hard in the first period on Friday and Jayson Megna scored on the rebound.

BAD

— Friday night wasn’t a good one for either of Providence’s goalies. Starter Mikey DiPietro gave up three goals on 12 shots. Brandon Bussi allowed five goals on 17 shots.

— Reilly Walsh was minus-four and Mike Callahan and Georgii Merkulov were minus-three against the Marlies.

— Providence generated only 23 shots in Sunday’s game.

— The P-Bruins face a tough week on the road. In the middle of playing 15 games in 30 days, they play at Toronto on Wednesday, at Rochester on Friday and at Hershey on Saturday.

— They don’t play at home again until Jan. 7.

— The power play is 26th in the league at home. I blame the fans who yell, “Shoooot.” You know who you are.

— They’ve given up 81 goals. Only seven teams have allowed more.

UGLY

— The P-Bruins scored the first goal and the last goal on Friday night, but in between Toronto put eight goals on the board. The 8-2 loss was Providence’s most one-sided in recent memory.

— The penalty kill gave up two goals against Toronto and one against Hershey and Syracuse. The PK continues to be the worst in the AHL at 74 percent.

Timely scoring, stout defense and good goaltending can carry a team a long way.

That was the formula for the Providence Bruins over the weekend as they extended their winning streak to seven games with a pair of road victories.

They opened with a 2-0 win against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday night. The P-Bruins moved on to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday and beat the Penguins, 5-1.

At 13-8-1-2, Providence was third in the Atlantic Division as of Sunday and was within four points of the second-place Hartford Wolf Pack.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— The line of Georgii Merkulov between Jesper Boqvist and Justin Brazeau was on fire on Saturday night. The trio accounted for all five Providence goals, with Merkulov putting up 2-3-5, Boqvist 2-2-4 and Brazeau 1-1-2. All three were plus-five.

— If Boston needs a center after the injury on Saturday to Pavel Zacha, my choice would be Georgii Merkulov. He leads the team in scoring with 8-13-21 in 24 games. More important, he’s been really good away from the puck, which was not a strength a year ago.

Merkulov scored the game-winner and added an assist against the Phantoms the night before lighting it up with two goals and three helpers against the Penguins.

— Justin Brazeau has points in five straight games and has 3-4-7 in that span.

— Providence is getting some of the best goaltending in the league. Mikey DiPietro stopped all 19 shots for his second shutout of the year on Friday. His .925 save percentage was fifth in the league as of Sunday. Brandon Bussi kicked out 30 of 31 shots on Saturday. He has a .921 save percentage.

— Defenseman Alec Regula was plus-three on Saturday and led the AHL with plus-16 in 21 games going into Sunday’s games. Right behind him is Dan Renouf with plus-14 in 21 games.

— Reilly Walsh had a good weekend. He gave Providence some breathing room with a power-play goal against Lehigh Valley, then was credited with two assists on Sunday, including a perfect pass to Georgii Merkulov for a breakaway goal against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

— The P-Bruins outshot Lehigh Valley in the first period, 11-2.

BAD

— Providence is playing 14 games in 30 days in the month of December.

— The penalty kill is 31^st in the league at 75 percent.

UGLY

— The team arrived back in Providence at 3 a.m. on Sunday. Could have been worse, I guess, but that’s ugly.

Anthony Richard barrels to the net against Bridgeport. He scored a goal and an assist on Friday and two goals on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

Since an ugly loss in Hartford on the night before Thanksgiving, the Providence Bruins have ripped off five straight wins.

They earned six out of six points over the weekend by winning all three of their games.

On Friday, Providence scored five goals in the second period on the way to a 6-3 home win over the Bridgeport Islanders. One night later, the P-Bruins came from behind in the third period for a 4-3 victory at Bridgeport. They finished the weekend with a gritty 3-2 win at home over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

The buy-in on Sunday, in the team’s third game in less than 72 hours, was impressive.

“I think it was contagious. You’re starting to see a team grow an identity and it’s those little things that are so important in winning games. Maybe two weeks ago we don’t win a game like that,” said coach Ryan Mougenel.

“The buy-in’s been amazing. There’s been a lot of good things, a lot of good teaching moments. Listen, it hasn’t been easy. It’s been the hardest, probably, we’ve been on the guys in the last two weeks. It’s great to see them respond the way they did. They played winning hockey this weekend.”

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— Providence was near the bottom in the Atlantic Division just a few weeks ago, but they finished the weekend in third place with a record of 11-8-1-2 and 25 points.

— It was a very strong first weekend for Patrick Brown. He scored a goal on Friday, his clean win on an offensive zone draw led to the game-winner on Saturday and he was good on the penalty kill in all three games.

— Parker Wotherspoon had a goal and an assist on Friday and two assists on Saturday.

— Alec Regula had two assists on Friday and a goal and a helper on Sunday. His plus-13 is tied for second in the AHL.

— Anthony Richard had his best weekend of the season with a goal and an assist on Friday and two goals on Saturday.

— Justin Brazeau had two assists on Friday and scored goals on Saturday and Sunday. He leads the team with seven goals.

— From his knees, Brett Harrison scored his first pro goal on Friday and added a goal and an assist on Saturday. Nothing fancy or flashy, just hard-working goals scored from close range.

— They received solid goaltending from Mikey DiPietro and Brandon Bussi in the three weekend wins.

— They scored five goals on nine shots on Bridgeport’s Jakub Skarek in the second period on Friday.

— Vincent Arseneau came out of the penalty box and gave the team a lift by scoring a goal off the rush in the first period on Sunday.

— Joey Abate provided a spark with an early fight on Friday and late in the game engaged Bridgeport’s Seth Helgeson in a bout after the Islander captain threw a hard hit on Mason Lohrei.

BAD

— The P-Bruins lead the league in power play opportunities with 101, but the power play is 25^th at 14.9 percent.

— Referee Justin Kea had to dig deep to find the hooking penalty he called on Anthony Richard with 30 seconds left in Saturday’s game. Just a terrible call. And this guy works NHL games!

— Providence will play 10 of its next 12 games on the road.

UGLY

— The penalty kill is the worst in the league at 73.4 percent. Providence gave up a power play goal in each of this weekend’s games.

— Injured: Fabian Lysell, Reilly Walsh