Month: March 2025

Good, bad & ugly from Providence Bruins week

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The Providence Bruins were ahead by a goal and appeared to be closing in on a win over the Springfield Thunderbirds with under two minutes left on Sunday before 10,113 fans at the AMP.

Then things went haywire.

Springfield’s Nikita Alexandrov, with a terrific individual rush, tied the game with 1:24 left.

Sixty-six seconds later, Alexandrov struck again. He got his stick on a shot from the point and tipped it past Brandon Bussi for the winning goal in a 3-2 decision.

It was a shocking end for Providence.

The P-Bruins finished with a 1-3 record for the week, as the absence of top players recalled by Boston or out with injuries hit home.

The week started on the road against the Charlotte Checkers with a 6-3 loss on Tuesday and a 5-2 loss on Wednesday.

Returning to Rhode Island, Providence ground out a 2-1 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack on Saturday before losing on Sunday.

Providence lost ground in the Atlantic Division standings. They are in fourth place with a record of 36-22-4-3 and 79 points. They are three points behind Charlotte and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The Hershey Bears are first with 85 points.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— Providence clinched a playoff spot on Saturday night. They have missed the postseason only five times since the franchise was founded in 1992-93. The last no-playoff season was 2011-12, which was Bruce Cassidy’s first year as head coach.

— Tyler Pitlick had two very strong games.

With Providence down by a goal early in the third period on Saturday, Pitlick scored a highlight-reel goal to tie the game. He did it again on Sunday, blocking a shot and then roaring in to score an unassisted breakaway goal that tied the game.

At 33 years old, Pitlick has a career-high 19 goals. He’s had a tremendous positive impact with the P-Bruins.

— Frederic Brunet turned in an excellent game on Sunday.

— The line of Trevor Kuntar, Jaxon Nelson and Joey Abate played a terrific game on Wednesday.

— After going without a goal in his first 28 games, Nelson scored twice in three games, including the game-winner on Saturday.

— Riley Tufte outmuscled a Hartford defender, then passed to Nelson in front of the net for Saturday’s GWG.

BAD

— The P-Bruins led 2-1 going into the third period on Wednesday, then gave up four goals (two empty-netters) and lost, 5-2.

— Matt Poitras had a rough night on Wednesday. He took penalties for tripping, high-sticking and hooking.

— Daniil Misyul was minus-3 in his Providence debut on Tuesday.

— Providence was outscored by a total of 6-0 in the first period of the games on Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.

— The P-Bruins penalty kill is fourth in the AHL at 85.1 percent, but gave up three goals on Wednesday.

— Providence was without captain Patrick Brown, Vinni Lettieri, Fabian Lysell, Mike Callahan and Ian Mitchell, all of whom were on recall with Boston.

UGLY

— Pick your adjective. The finish to Sunday’s game was ugly, hideous, revolting.

— Injured: John Farinacci, Billy Sweezey, Michael DiPietro

Good, bad & ugly from Providence Bruins weekend

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Matt Poitras scored twice in a win against Lehigh Valley on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

Under the circumstances, it was the most impressive weekend of the season for the Providence Bruins.

Facing two quality opponents on the road without five of their better players in captain Patrick Brown, Vinni Lettieri, Fabian Lysell, Ian Mitchell or Mike Callahan?

Didn’t matter.

The P-Bruins stomped the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 10-2, on Friday night, then beat the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 3-1, on Saturday night.

Here’s the good, bad & ugly.

GOOD

— Providence finished the weekend in third place in the Atlantic Division with a 35-19-4-3 record and 77 points. They are one point behind second-place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. With 11 games left in the regular season, the magic number to clinch a playoff spot is two.

— Special teams are going strong. The power play went 3 for 5 on Friday and 1 for 2 on Saturday. They’ve scored power play goals in five straight games. The PP is eighth in the AHL at 20.5 percent. The PK is third at 85.6 percent.

— Providence’s goal differential is plus-48. Only the Colorado Eagles with plus-60 are ahead of them.

— Jeffrey Viel led the point parade in Friday night’s offensive explosion with 2-2-4, followed by Jake Gaudet (2-1-3), Matt Poitras (1-2-3) and Oliver Wahlstrom (0-3-3).

— Brandon Bussi stopped 42 shots against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. While the final score was lopsided in Providence’s favor, Bussi denied the Penguins on at least three Grade A opportunities in the opening minutes to keep the game scoreless and allow the P-Bruins to get to their game.

— Friday was Providence’s first 10-goal game since Nov. 25, 1998. On that night, the visiting P-Bruins annihilated Syracuse, 14-2.

— Fourteen different players recorded points against the Penguins.

— When former Boston University defenseman Ty Gallagher scored his first pro goal Friday, it was former Boston College winger Oliver Wahlstrom who fished the puck out of the net for Gallagher.   

— Providence has outscored the Penguins, 20-5, and beaten them in all three meetings so far.

— Joey Abate scored a goal, punished Atley Calvert with a big hit into the boards and decisioned Jack St. Ivany in a fight on Friday night. Call it a Joey Abate Hat Trick.

— Frederic Brunet got a fortunate break on his goal – his fifth of the season – against the Penguins. Fraser Minten threw the puck at the net and it hit Brunet – who was ridden into the crease by a defender – and went into the net.

— Michael DiPietro turned in a solid 28-save effort against the Phantoms. He leads the AHL in wins (28), save percentage (.929) and goals-against average (2.02).

— Matt Poitras played a strong two-way game against Lehigh Valley. He opened the scoring with a power-play goal in the first period and added some insurance with an empty-netter in the third period.

— Brett Harrison scored goals in both games.

— Max Wanner had his best game so far on Saturday. He defended well and made a couple of smart, poised plays with the puck. On Providence’s second goal he carried the puck into the offensive zone and got it on net, where Harrison cashed in the rebound.

BAD

— Obviously, the P-Bruins exist to serve the parent club and callups are a fact of AHL life. But when five of your better players are up with Boston, Providence faces a massive challenge.

UGLY

– – A behind-the-back, cross-ice pass attempt in the defensive zone blew up in Georgii Merkulov’s face on Friday. Sam Poulin of the Penguins picked it off and promptly scored Wilkes-Barre/Scranston’s first goal.

— Injured: John Farinacci, Jake Gaudet

Good, bad & ugly from Providence Bruins week

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Fraser Minten scored a natural hat trick in Springfield on Sunday. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

When all was said and done, it turned out to be a decent week for the Providence Bruins.

Playing on the road without three of their top players – Patrick Brown, Vinni Lettieri and Ian Mitchell, all of whom are up with the Boston Bruins — the P-Bruins earned three out of six points.

They started the week in Toronto, where they dropped a 4-2 decision to the Marlies. Moving on to Rochester on Friday, Providence lost to the Americans in a shootout, 4-3. In Springfield on Sunday afternoon, they played a very strong game at both ends and headed home with a much-needed 4-1 win.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— Playing his third game with Providence, 20-year-old center Fraser Minten had an afternoon to remember on Sunday. He scored a natural hat trick and assisted on Riley Duran’s goal.

— Billy Sweezey made a pretty pass to set up Minten on Minten’s second goal against the T-Birds.

— Providence finished the weekend at 33-19-4-3 and 73 points. They are in third place in the Atlantic Division, one point behind the second-place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and one point ahead of the fourth-place Charlotte Checkers. The Hershey Bears are first with 80 points.

— The power play continues to produce. The P-Bruins scored a power play goal in each of their three games.

— The penalty kill is up to fourth in the AHL at 85.2 percent.

— Matt Poitras  had an assist in Toronto, two in Rochester and one in Springfield. Three of the four helpers came on the power play.

— Fabian Lysell scored a nice goal for his 11th of the season in Toronto.

— Jeffrey Viel scored twice before the game was 11 minutes old in Rochester. Both goals were assisted by Tyler Pitlick and Jake Gaudet. Acquired on loan from Cleveland, Gaudet turned in good games on Friday and Sunday.

BAD

— They squandered a two-goal lead in Rochester and were outshot, 21-7, in the second period.

— Providence allowed a goal 30 seconds into the second period in Toronto.

— With the goalie pulled on Friday, Providence couldn’t hit the open net on Friday and the Amerks promptly took the puck to the other end and tied the game.

— A quick whistle by referee Johnathan Daniels cost Oliver Wahlstrom a goal against the Thunderbirds.

UGLY

— Injured: John Farinacci

Good, bad & ugly from Providence Bruins week

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Patrick Brown has six goals and 16 points in his last nine games. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

The Providence Bruins continued to play good hockey over the last week, earning five out of six points.

They beat the Bridgeport Islanders, 5-1, on the road on Wednesday. At home on Saturday, they banked a point in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Springfield Thunderbirds. Then on Sunday they scored four times in the third period for a come-from-behind 5-2 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack before 10,031 fans at the AMP.

The veterans – especially Vinni Lettieri and Patrick Brown — led the way again on Sunday.

“We talk about them a lot and I don’t even think we talk about them enough. What they bring and who they are, the things they say, the commitment to the game and how much they love the game and how energizing they are for us as a coaching staff to come to the rink,” said coach Ryan Mougenel.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— With Sunday’s win, Providence finished the weekend in second place in the Atlantic Division with 68 points. They are three points behind the first-place Hershey Bears and two points ahead of the third-place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

— The power play is cooking. It went 4 for 6 in the three games. It’s up to 14th in the AHL at 19.2 percent.

— Vinni Lettieri had a goal and an assist against Bridgeport, an assist against Springfield and a goal and two helpers against Hartford. He leads the team with 20-28-48 in 46 games.

— Patrick Brown scored twice against Bridgeport and recorded two helpers against Springfield and Hartford. He has 6-10-16 in his last nine games.

— Tyler Pitlick had a goal and an assist against the Islanders.

— Riley Tufte scored twice against Springfield and once against Hartford.

— Max Jones had 1-1-2 against the Wolf Pack.

— The fourth line of Trevor Kuntar, Brett Harrison and Joey Abate had a terrific game on Sunday.

Kuntar goaded Hartford’s Alex Belzile into taking 17 minutes in penalties and had a game-high seven shots. Harrison was credited with an assist on Lettieri’s tying goal  and Abate sparked positive energy with a crushing check and a fight three minutes into the game.

“I thought Kuntar, Harry and Abate were really kind of the difference (Sunday). They did a good job of playing how we need to play. Abate gets a big hit and a fight. Guys that are kind of in and out of the lineup and you tell them they’ve got to make noise, I thought they did that tonight. They deserve a lot of the kudos,” said Mougenel.

— In his first game after being sent down from Boston, Oliver Wahlstrom scored his first goal as a Providence Bruin on Saturday. On Sunday, he added another goal – an empty netter.

— Fabian Lysell got a fortunate bounce off a Hartford defender on his game-winning goal on Sunday. He’d had one goal in his previous 13 games.

“It was good to see Fabian get rewarded by just making a play towards the net. It wasn’t a lateral play,” said Mougenel.

BAD

— Very questionable goaltender interference call on Riley Tufte on Saturday. Skating at full speed, Tufte reached for a Patrick Brown pass at the edge of the crease and tipped the puck past Springfield goalie Vadim Zherenko for Providence’s third goal. Just as Tufte touched the puck, he collided with Zherenko, who was at the top of the crease attempting to make the save. The goal counted, as it should have. Zherenko was not injured. Both players were attempting to make a play on the puck, a hockey play. I don’t think a penalty was the right call.

— After taking the lead early in the first period on Sunday, the P-Bruins gave up the tying goal just 51 seconds later.

— As good as the power play has been lately, it wasted five minutes with the man advantage on Sunday.

— They were shorthanded only twice on Saturday and they gave up goals both times.

UGLY

— Injured: Jackson Edward