
Vinni Lettieri (95) scores Providence’s first goal on Saturday night. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)
The Providence Bruins took care of business in the final week of the regular season.
By winning both of their games, they nailed down third place in the Atlantic Division and earned home ice against the Springfield Thunderbirds in a best-of-three first round Calder Cup series.
The P-Bruins opened the week with one of the signature wins of the season. On the road at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, they came from one goal down in the third period and defeated the Penguins, 3-2, on a goal in the final minute by Riley Tufte.
At home on Saturday, Providence closed out the regular season by edging the Bridgeport Islanders, 3-2.
Here’s the good, bad and ugly.
GOOD
— Providence finished in third place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 41-23-5-3, good for 90 points. They trailed first-place Hershey by six points and second-place Charlotte by four.
— Mike DiPietro was named an AHL First Team All-Star on Thursday. He’s the first P-Bruin goalie to earn that honor since Niklas Svedberg in 2012-13. DiPietro finished with a record of 26-8-5 with a .927 save percentage and a 2.05 goals-against average.
— Dans Locmelis finished tied for 65th in scoring in the NCAA this season at UMass with 8-25-33 in 40 games. Since turning pro on April 1, Locmelis has piled up points at a stunning rate. After recording two assists in each of Providence’s games last week, he has 3-9-12 in six games. The sample size has been tiny, but he’s been a breath of fresh air.
— With Providence trailing by a goal in the third period on Wednesday, Patrick Brown simply was not going to be denied. He willed the puck into the net for his team-leading 10th power play goal of the season and the P-Bruins went on to a key win. The team has been fortunate to have outstanding captains through the years and Brown is one of the best.
— Providence’s special teams finished strong. They were third in the league on the power play at 21.4 percent and second on the penalty kill at 85.7 percent.
— Georgii Merkulov finished with 15-39-54 in 59 games. He’s led the team in scoring in each of his three seasons. He deserved more than the six games he got with Boston this season.
— Vinni Lettieri, Tyler Pitlick and Riley Tufte – all natives of Minnesota – tied for the team lead in goals with 21.
— It was a good week for John Farinacci. He scored his first NHL goal in Boston on Tuesday and tallied the game-winner against the Islanders on Saturday.
— Daniil Misyul displayed a different side of his game when he landed some big punches on Bridgeport’s Travis Mitchell in a late-game scrap.
— Providence finished with a record of 11-1 against last-place Bridgeport.
BAD
— The P-Bruins went 5-6-0-1 against their first-round opponent, Springfield.
— Since scoring a natural hat trick against the Thunderbirds on March 16, Fraser Minten doesn’t have a goal in eight games.
UGLY
— Providence was whistled for two too-many-men penalties against Bridgeport.
— Injured: Georgii Merkulov, Billy Sweezey, Jake Gaudet