Month: November 2024

Good, bad & ugly from Providence Bruins weekend

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Georgii Merkulov beats Lehigh Valley goalie Parker Gahagen for the winning goal in overtime on Saturday night. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

The first six weeks of the season have been a slog at times for the Providence Bruins, but things are looking up.

The P-Bruins won both of their games over the weekend, starting with a thorough start-to-finish win at home over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 3-0, on Friday night. At the AMP again on Saturday, Providence beat the Phantoms, 2-1, in overtime.

“Really, if you look at our last seven games, I think they’ve been a step in the right direction, building it the right way,” coach Ryan Mougenel said late Saturday.

“The D did a real good job. (Mike) Callahan and (Billy) Sweezey have been good lieutenants back there, showing the young kids how we need to play. (Ian) Mitchell was excellent (Saturday) and our goalies made the saves that they need to make. It’s going in the right direction. We’re building our team game.”

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— A week ago, the P-Bruins were in sixth place in the Atlantic Division as of Sunday night. This week they are fourth with a record of 8-7-2. They are one point behind the second-place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

— Providence’s goaltending was outstanding all weekend and team defense was much improved. On Friday, Brandon Bussi played his best game of the season in posting a 30-save shutout. He made several 10-bell saves in the third period. On Saturday, Mike DiPietro stopped 22 of 23 shots.

— Georgii Merkulov didn’t sulk after being sent down from Boston. He was credited with a primary assist on Friday and won Saturday’s game with a nifty breakaway goal in overtime. Second on the team in points with 3-10-13 in 14 games, he is riding a seven-game point streak.

— Vinni Lettieri made a beautiful play to set up Riley Tufte’s second period goal on Saturday. Lettieri leads the team with 8-6-14 in 17 games.

— Fabian Lysell snapped a nine-game stretch without a goal when he scored his second goal of the year in the first period on Friday.

— John Farinacci made a pretty pass to set up Frederic Brunet’s goal on Friday.

— Matt Poitras recorded two assists in Friday’s game.

— Providence’s next five games are against teams that are below them in the standings: Utica (3), Springfield and Bridgeport.

BAD

— Trevor Kuntar (14 games) and Brett Harrison (13 games) are both still looking for their first goals of the season.

— The P-Bruins are averaging 15.06 penalty minutes per game, eighth most in the AHL.

— On the road, Providence’s penalty kill is 27th in the league.          

— They are 0-4-1-0 when trailing after two periods and 0-4-0-0 when outshot.

UGLY

— Injured: Alec Regula

Good, bad and ugly from Providence Bruins weekend

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Riley Duran tucks the puck behind Cleveland goalie Jet Greaves in the first period on Friday night. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

It was a disappointing weekend for the Providence Bruins.

After sweeping all three games the previous weekend, the P-Bruins went winless in this weekend’s three games, though they did earn points on Friday and Sunday via losses in overtime.

They started with a 4-3 OT loss at home to the Cleveland Monsters on Friday. In Hartford on Saturday, Providence gave up three third-period goals in a 4-2 defeat.

That set the stage for a gut-punch loss at home on Sunday. Providence led 3-1 with under 10 minutes left but allowed Cleveland to tie the game and then win it, 4-3, just 19 seconds into extra time.

The P-Bruins didn’t help their cause by taking three penalties in the third period. While they killed all three, they expended a lot of energy.

“We took some bad penalties. I thought we were playing a decent game for three in three, a real smart game. For us, the penalties wear our penalty killers down and that kind of set the tone for the end. At the end, that’s on me. I’ve got to make sure I’m getting the right guys, the fresh guys out there. That’s on me, for sure,” said coach Ryan Mougenel.

Providence ended the weekend with a record of 6-7-2-0. They are in sixth place in the Atlantic Division. The good news is there are 57 games left and they are just three points behind second-place Wilkes-Barre Scranton.

“We went through similar things last year and we all got our games in a good place. Getting that chemistry is real important. There’s guys that are going to get a lot of opportunity, some young players, and when you get that opportunity, it’s what you do with it,” said Mougenel.

“We’re at that point where if you’re not getting it done, it’s kind of like (on to) the next guy in line. That’s part of the growth, too, the strongest survive. We’re at that point right now where they’ve got to start growing. We’ve got to see it, we can’t just keep talking about it. We need more from our young guys, for sure.”

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

—  The line of Marc McLaughlin between Riley Duran and Tyler Pitlick was a revelation Friday night as McLaughlin and Duran scored goals and McLaughlin earned the primary helper on Frederic Brunet’s score.

— Marc McLaughlin had awful puck luck last season but has had a hot stick lately with goals in five straight games. He had a goal and an assist on Friday, a goal on Saturday and another goal on Sunday. After scoring 8 goals in 68 games last season, he already has 5 goals in 15 games.

— Tyler Pitlick, who played a strong two-way game with a goal and an assist on Sunday, turned in the OT shift of the season so far on Friday, taking it to the net himself for a chance then hunting the puck down and setting up Fabian Lysell for a great opportunity. He has 4-6-10 in 12 games while playing on a PTO.

— Riley Duran scored a nice goal on a strong move to the net on Friday and added an assist later in the game.

— Fabian Lysell had two assists and hit a post and crossbar on Sunday. “It was good to see Fabian play better today,” said Mougenel.

— Brandon Bussi made a 10-bell side-to-side save on a Grade A shorthanded chance by Hartford’s Anton Blidh with 6:34 left in the second period on Saturday.

— Vinni Lettieri had a goal and an assist in Hartford. He leads the team with 8-5-13 in 15 games.

— The puck is not going in for feisty Trevor Kuntar (no goals in 13 games), but he flattened Hartford’s Brandon Scanlin with a clean check in the third period on Saturday even though Scanlin has four inches and 15 pounds on him.

— Matt Poitras recorded his first AHL point with a secondary assist on Vinni Lettieri’s goal in Hartford.

— Frederic Brunet scored his first goal of the year on Friday.

BAD

— NHL callups are part of the deal in the AHL, but the P-Bruins took a major hit on Friday night when they were missing four top players in Patrick Brown, Georgii Merkulov, Jordan Oesterle and Riley Tufte.

— Just 23 seconds after cutting Hartford’s lead to one goal late in the game on Saturday, the P-Bruins allowed a Matt Rempe goal that restored the Wolf Pack lead.

— Fabian Lysell remains stuck on one goal. His only tuck of the season came on Oct. 19 in Springfield. He had a glittering opportunity in OT on Friday, all alone 15 feet in front of the net with the puck on his stick, but he shot it wide.

— Matt Poitras gave the puck away behind the Providence net at the start of the sequence that ended up with Casey Fitzgerald’s goal for Hartford in the third period on Saturday. All in all, it was an underwhelming first three AHL games for Poitras.

— Sunday was the first time the P-Bruins lost a game after leading going into the third period.

— They were shorthanded four times on Friday and gave up two goals.

— While the Bruins played in Hartford on Saturday, the Monsters had the night off.

UGLY

— Injured: Alec Regula, Riley Duran

Good, bad & ugly from Providence Bruins weekend

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Max Jones celebrates after muscling in a loose puck from the edge of the crease on Sunday. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

Things are looking up for the Providence Bruins.

They were struggling heading into their first three-in-three weekend of the season, but they reeled off three consecutive wins as their offense came to life.

The P-Bruins started at home on Friday with a 3-2 win over the Bridgeport Islanders. In Saturday’s return match in Connecticut, Providence broke open a close game in the third period and rolled to an 8-4 victory. Back home against the Hartford Wolf Pack on Sunday, they fell behind in the first period but clawed their way to a 4-2 win.

“I liked our team game. A lot of guys stepped up and it showed,” coach Ryan Mougenel said after Sunday’s game. “It hasn’t been an easy start, but I think we’re going to be a better team for it. I really liked the buy in and the dig in from, especially, our older guys. They did a great job of leading and setting the right example.”

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— The power play was last in the league on Friday but after going 6 for 15 in the three games it climbed up to 19th as of Sunday night. The penalty kill chipped in with a shorthanded goal on Friday and again on Saturday.

— The three wins evened Providence’s record at 6-6.

— Providence scored four straight goals in 3:07 to pull away in Saturday’s game.

— Tyler Pitlick had two assists in Bridgeport, then scored the winner and added an assist on Sunday.

— Vinni Lettieri could have shot the puck into the open net himself late in Sunday’s game, but instead unselfishly passed it to Patrick Brown, who scored an easy goal to salt away the win. Lettieri scored a goal on Friday and a goal and an assist on Saturday. He is tied for the team lead in scoring with 7-4-11 in 12 games.

— Georgii Merkulov is heating up. He had assists on Friday and Sunday and a goal and two helpers on Saturday. He is tied with Lettieri in points with 2-9-11 in 12 games.

— Michael DiPietro stuffed Bridgeport’s Julien Gauthier on a penalty shot with 6:07 remaining in the game on Friday. After posting wins on Friday and Sunday, DiPietro is 5-2 with a 1.70 goals-against average, which is fourth in the AHL.

— Max Jones had a solid first two games. He scored his first Providence goal on Sunday.

— Mike Callahan is playing some of the best hockey of his three years with the Bruins.

— Ian Mitchell scored the game-winning goal and added an assist on Saturday. 

— Brandon Bussi stopped 32 shots in recording his first victory of the season against the Islanders on Saturday.

— Jeffrey Viel and Riley Duran had a good weekend on the penalty kill. Viel buried the shorthanded GWG on Friday and Duran scored his first goal of the year on Saturday night with help from Viel.

— The P-Bruins have had the fifth-most power-play opportunities in the league with 52.

— Marc McLaughlin has goals in his last two games.

— John Farinacci scored goals 2:11 apart on Saturday.

— Joey Abate provided some energy with a fight against Eetu Liukas in Bridgeport.

— Ryan Mast had two assists on Friday.

BAD

— The P-Bruins allowed Bridgeport to score just 15 seconds into the second period on Saturday. They gave up another one with 38 seconds left in the same period.

— They were outshot, 15-7, by the Islanders in the third period on Friday.

— Jeffrey Viel leads the AHL with 10 minor penalties.

UGLY

— Mike DiPietro was victimized by an awful bounce on Sunday. A rim from center ice bounced off the backboards, hit DiPietro in the back of the leg and deflected into the net for Hartford’s first goal

— Injured: Alec Regula, Jaxon Nelson

Good, bad & ugly from Providence Bruins week

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A five-day, three-game road trip to Ontario and Quebec started well for the Providence Bruins but ended on a sour note.

In Belleville on Wednesday night, the P-Bruins gutted out a 3-2 shootout win thanks to Michael DiPietro’s standout performance in goal.

Moving on to Laval, Providence lost 2-1 on Friday and then dropped a 6-3 decision on Saturday as they continued to have trouble scoring.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— Mike DiPietro stopped 35 of 37 shots and all three in the shootout in the win in Belleville. His 1.59 goals-against average is ninth in the AHL. His .940 save percentage is 11th.

— Vinni Lettieri scored a goal on Saturday and leads the team in scoring with 5-2-7 in 9 games.

— Joey Abate scored his first goal of the season in Belleville on Wednesday and Georgii Merkulov did the same in Laval on Friday.

— Brett Harrison scored the only goal in the shootout victory in Belleville.

— Stick tap for Frederic Brunet. He challenged Laval pest Xavier Simoneau to drop the gloves on Saturday and then handled the mouthy Frenchman, whose bark is worse than his bite.  

BAD

— Providence finished the weekend in the Atlantic Division basement, tied with Springfield and Bridgeport.

— The P-Bruins have scored 19 goals in 9 games. Only Utica (16) and Chicago (11) have scored fewer.

— Marc McLaughlin, Riley Duran, Brett Harrison and Trevor Kuntar are all still looking for their first goal of the season.

— Puck luck has been hard to come by lately. On Saturday, the P-Bruins were 50 seconds away from escaping the first period with a lead, but then Laval’s Vincent Arseneau threw a pass in the general direction of a teammate and it clanked off Freddy Brunet’s skate and into the net, tying the score at one.

— After allowing 5 goals on 21 shots in Saturday’s loss, Brandon Bussi is 0-4 with a save percentage of .850.

— Providence was outscored 13-6 in its three losses to Laval this season and simply could not stop defenseman Logan Mailloux, who had 3-6-9 in the three games.

— The P-Bruins have scored the first goal seven times in nine games, but have gone on to win only three of those games.

— They’ve been outscored 15-5 in the second period.

— If you were surprised that things got out of control near the end of Saturday’s game then you obviously are not familiar with the work of referee Mathieu Menniti.  

UGLY

— Providence has scored twice and given up two shorthanded goals on 37 power play opportunities. At 5.4 percent, the PP is last in the AHL.

— Injured: Alec Regula, Fabian Lysell, Billy Sweezey, Jaxon Nelson