Providence’s Dalton Bancroft and Belleville’s Djibril Touré had a spirited bout on Friday night. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

The Providence Bruins haven’t had many – or any — weekends like this one so far this season.

After winning a franchise record 13^th game in a row, 5-2, against Belleville on Friday, the P-Bruins lost in Springfield, 3-2, on Saturday, then got off to a bad start and dropped a 5-2 decision to last-place Hartford at the AMP on Sunday. 

 Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— Providence finished the weekend in first place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 38-10-1 and 77 points. They are two points ahead of second-place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with four games in hand.

— Brett Harrison scored twice against Belleville, including one in the opening 27 seconds of the first period.

— Georgii Merkulov had two assists on Friday and one on Sunday.

— Matej Blumel had a goal and an assist against Belleville and two assists against Springfield.

— Patrick Brown had an assist on Saturday and a goal on Sunday.

— With scores against Belleville and Springfield, Riley Tufte is up to 22 goals. Only eight players in the AHL have more goals than he does.

— Providence scored twice in 24 seconds in the last minute of the second period against Belleville.

— Mike DiPietro stopped Belleville’s Lassi Thomson on a penalty shot on Friday.

— The P-Bruins are second in the league on the penalty kill at 85.4 percent.

BAD

— Fabian Lysell’s careless turnover against Belleville led directly to a shorthanded goal for the Senators on Friday night. Lysell has been held without a point in nine of his last 10 games. He didn’t have a shot on goal on either Saturday or Sunday.

— Providence was outshot, 19-5, in the second period in Springfield and gave up three goals, including two in 38 seconds.

— Mike DiPietro, the AHL’s top goalie, had a difficult first period on Sunday, allowing three goals on 12 shots.

— The P-Bruins lost two in a row for the first time this season.

UGLY

— Injured: Simon Zajicek 

After a few days off for the AHL All-Star break, the Providence Bruins jumped back into action with a pair of wins.

They beat the Bridgeport Islanders, 4-2, on the road on Saturday, then beat them again at home on Sunday, 3-2, in overtime.

Coach Ryan Mougenel called Saturday’s game one of his team’s best all season.

Sunday was a different story

“We weren’t good today. That’s going to happen. It was probably the worst I’ve seen us play in the third period. We found a way,” he said.

Providence has won 12 games in a row, tying a franchise record. They’ve gone 16-2 since the calendar turned to 2026.

“It’s a real good group and our veterans and our back end really make it go. Defensively we’ve been real strong.

“A lot of the credit goes to the leaders of this group. Sweezey’s been outstanding, Callahan, Brunet, Wolanin, all the D,” Mougenel said.

All three of the goalies – DiPietro, Cavallin and Zajicek – “have been amazing.”

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— Providence is 8-0 against Bridgeport this season after going 11-1 last season.

— The biggest positive from Providence’s season to this point just might be the continued development of Frederic Brunet. He fired in what turned out to be the game-winner in Saturday’s game and scored in OT on Sunday. Brunet has 10-16-26 in 46 games so far. He has already surpassed his numbers from last season, when he had 5-20-25 in 69 games.

— John Farinacci received a nice break on Saturday when Bridgeport’s Marshall Warren, trying to clear the puck, accidently rifled it into the top corner of his own net. Farinacci was the last Bruin to touch the puck so he was credited with the goal.

— You won’t see better execution on a three-on-one than the P-Bruins pulled off for the OT goal on Sunday.

— From 195 feet away, Riley Tufte scored his team-leading 20^th goal into an empty net, and added an assist, on Saturday night.

— Fabian Lysell scored a goal and added an assist on Sunday. It was his ninth multi-point game of the season.

— Christian Wolanin scored goals in both games this weekend.

— Sunday’s game drew 10,038 fans.

BAD

— Luke Cavallin was victimized by tough bounces on both Bridgeport goals on Saturday.

— Bridgeport outshot Providence, 18-1, in the third period on Sunday.

— The P-Bruins allowed Bridgeport to tie the game with 2:01 left in the third period on Sunday.

UGLY

— Injured: Simon Zajicek

The Providence Bruins roared into the AHL All-Star break on a 10-game winning streak.

They started the week with a 2-1 win at Bridgeport. At home on Friday, they beat Hartford, 3-1. The next night on the road they edged the Wolf Pack in a shootout, 2-1.

The P-Bruins are in first place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 35-8-1-0 and 71 points.

They are three points ahead of second-place Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with four games in hand.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— Georgii Merkulov had a strong week, starting with a primary assist on a power play goal in Bridgeport. He scored twice in Friday’s win. He recorded assist on Saturday before scoring the only goal in shootout. He is second on the team in scoring with 16-20-36 in 42 games.

— Back in Providence after a short but positive stay with Boston, Matt Poitras made a good pass to set up a Merkulov goal and added another assist in Friday’s win.

— Brett Harrison had an assist on Friday, then scored a goal on Saturday at the end of well-executed power play.

— Mike DiPietro stopped 36 of 37 shots on Wednesday and 28 of 29 on Friday. As he heads to the All-Star Game in Rockford, he continues to lead the league with a .943 save percentage and 1.62 goals-against average. He is tied for the AHL lead with 20 wins.

— Luke Cavallin stopped 25 of 26 shots plus three more in the shootout in improving his record to 4-0 with Saturday’s win.

— Christian Wolanin had a productive week. Had scored a power-play goal in Bridgeport and added assists on Friday and Saturday.

— Frederic Brunet scored his eighth goal of the season on Friday.

— Stick tap for Riley Tufte, who came to Brunet’s defense after the Providence defenseman took a big hit in Hartford on Saturday. Tufte scored his team-leading 19^th goal in Bridgeport. It was his 200^th AHL point. His plus-23 is tied for fifth in the AHL.

— Patrick Brown’s plus-28 leads the league and Billy Sweezey’s plus-26 is second.

— Providence’s 84.8 percent penalty kill is second in the AHL. The power play is seventh at 22.2 percent.

BAD

— Once referees Mathieu Menniti and Johnny Daniels whistled Hartford for too many men in overtime on Saturday, it was laughably predictable that a makeup call against Providence was coming. Sure enough, the P-Bruins were called for too many men 73 seconds later.

UGLY

— Let’s be real. They’ve won 10 in a row. They’re in first place. If they’re not the best team in the league, they’re a close second. There’s really not much ugly to be found this week.

— Injured: Simon Zajicek

After a pair of wins in Charlotte over the weekend, the Providence Bruins finished with an 11-2 record in January.

They beat the Checkers by scores of 4-1 on Saturday and 3-0 on Sunday in a game that was closed to the public because of bad weather in North Carolina.

With seven straight wins, the P-Bruins are in first place in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference with a record of 32-8-1-0 for 65 points and a .793 points percentage. They are three points ahead of second-place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the Atlantic with four games in hand.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— It was a weekend to remember for Georgii Merkulov. With an assist on a goal by Dans Locmelis on Saturday, Merkulov tied Andy Hilbert for the most points in franchise history with 210. He broke the record with a helper on a goal by Victor Soderstrom on Sunday. Locmelis grabbed the keepsake puck out of the Charlotte net for Merkulov after the goal. Merkulov has 84-127-211 in 240 games with the P-Bruins.

— Providence is 25-1 when scoring first. They are 25-0 when leading after two periods and 18-0 when leading after one period.

— They are 16-5 at home and 16-3-1-0 on the road.

— With his goal on Saturday, Locmelis is second on the team with 15 goals as he leaves this week to play for Latvia in the Olympics.  

— Riley Tufte scored twice and added an assist in Saturday’s win. He leads the team with 18 goals in 34 games.

— Mike DiPietro was outstanding in stopping 19 of 20 shots on Saturday. When Simon Zajicek apparently reinjured himself and left the game after a period on Sunday, DiPietro stepped in and stopped all 24 shots he faced. He continues to lead the AHL with a .940 save percentage and 1.67 goals-against average.

— Matej Blumel scored twice in Sunday’s win. His first goal was a net-front tip. On the second he kicked the puck to Riley Duran near the blue line and then went to the net and buried a beautiful backhand pass from Duran for the score.

— Stick tap for Mike Callahan for coming to the defense of captain Patrick Brown after Brown took a hit from Charlotte’s MacKenzie Entwhistle in the third period on Sunday.

— After missing several games with an injury, Victor Soderstrom had a productive weekend with an assist on Saturday and a goal and a helper on Sunday.

BAD

— The first four penalties in Saturday’s game went against Providence. When they finally did get a power play 47 minutes into the game, they allowed Charlotte to score a shorthanded goal.

— Six of Providence’s next 13 games are against Bridgeport. No knock on the Islanders, but that’s a lot of games against the same team in a relatively short time.

UGLY

— Injured: Simon Zajicek