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