The best playoff run in years for the Providence Bruins ended on Mother’s Day in Charlotte, N.C.

It was a tough finish to a fine season for the P-Bruins.

They went to Charlotte down by two games to the Checkers in the best-of-five Atlantic Division semifinal, but fought back with a pair of gutsy one-goal wins to extend the series to the limit.

Facing elimination in Game 3 on Wednesday Providence scraped out a 3-2 victory. They trailed in the third period of Game 4 on Friday, but tied the game late and won, 3-2, on an overtime goal by – who else? – captain Patrick Brown.

That set the stage for Game 5. The battered and worn-out P-Bruins – missing the AHL’s top goalie in Michael DiPietro and leading scorer Georgii Merkulov, both out with injuries – took another gut punch when Brown injured his hip on the first shift.

He stayed in the game, but at much less than 100 percent. “I can’t even believe he got through the game. He can hardly walk right now,” coach Ryan Mougenel said.

The final was Charlotte 5, Providence 2.

“I’m proud of the guys. We lost some important pieces and guys really battled,” Mougenel said of the playoff run.

“It was telling for a lot of guys. We got a lot of answers. (Matt Poitras) stepped up in the playoffs, which is an important part of it. We’re going to go on and build a winning culture in Boston, it’s encouraging that he played like a man. Guys like Brownie and (Jeffrey Viel) did a real good job leading this group all year,” he said.

In the end, “it is what it is. We just didn’t have enough juice,” Mougenel said.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— With the P-Bruins facing elimination, Patrick Brown’s goal at 7:08 of overtime capped a 3-2 win in Game 4 that tied the series.

— Brandon Bussi had to take over in net just 2:22 into Game 4 when Michael DiPietro was injured. Bussi delivered a terrific performance, kicking out 31 of 33 shots in Providence’s OT victory.

— DiPietro was brilliant in stopping 38 of 40 shots in Providence’s 3-2 win in Game 3.

— Matt Poitras made a high-end play to set up Oliver Wahlstrom’s game-tying goal with 5:09 left in regulation time in Game 4.

— Riley Tufte scored twice in Game 3. Frederic Brunet recorded two assists.

— The fourth line came through with an important goal in Game 4 as John Farinacci scored from Trevor Kuntar and Joey Abate.

— Tyler Pitlick buried a nice pass from Jeffrey Viel for the game-winning goal in Game 3.

— Providence played with a lot of heart all season so it was no surprise that they battled until the end, scoring twice in the third period of Game 5 to cut Charlotte’s lead to one goal before the Checkers added a pair of empty-netters.

— Vinni Lettieri scored twice late in Game 5 to pull Providence within a goal. He had assists in Game 3 and 4. Lettieri was the team’s top scorer in the playoffs with 3-4-7 in 8 games.

— The playoffs was a valuable learning experience for Providence youngsters such as Matt Poitras, Fraser Minten, Frederic Brunet, Riley Duran, John Farinacci and Dans Locmelis.

BAD

— Let me be clear: Poor officiating is not the reason Providence didn’t win the series. But there were decisions by the refs in Charlotte that made you shake your head.

In Game 5, referees Morgan MacPhee and Stephen Hiff butchered their first consequential call. Goalie Brandon Bussi was clearly interfered with on Charlotte’s first goal, but MacPhee and Hiff allowed it.

“It’s disappointing that that was the standard. It’s not even debatable,” Mougenel said.

In Game 4, Joey Abate took a bare-fisted sucker punch from Riley Bezeau. All Bezeau received was a minor for roughing from refs Alex Lepkowski and Jordan Samuels-Thomas.

“It’s tough to watch one of your players get sucker punched with no glove, break his orbital bone and it’s a two-minute minor. These are important decisions (the referees) are making,” Mougenel said.

— Fabian Lysell was a healthy scratch for Game 4 on Friday. He returned to the lineup for Game 5 on Sunday and on one of his first shifts he put Charlotte on the power play by taking a roughing penalty in front of the benches. If there was a glimmer of hope that Lysell might come back from his stint in Boston with a spring in his step, it vanished in a hurry. He was a nonfactor in the postseason.

UGLY

— Injured: Georgii Merkulov, Billy Sweezey, Michael DiPietro

— The shots were 20-1 in favor of Charlotte at the midway point of Game 5. Providence finished the game with only 8 shots. After expending a lot of energy in digging deep to win Games 3 and 4, they didn’t have enough left for Game 5.