You could hardly blame the Providence Bruins for breathing a sigh of relief Monday night after a 4-3 overtime win against the Hartford Wolf Pack.

They needed a victory in the worst way to salvage a weekend at home that saw them lose in OT to the Springfield Thunderbirds, 1-0, on Friday and lose to the Syracuse Crunch, 4-1, on Sunday.

Providence had a win in regulation time within reach against Hartford, but gave up a goal with 2:36 left that forced extra time. To their credit, they quickly reset and were rewarded when Steven Fogarty scored the game-winner just 45 seconds into OT.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— Joona Koppanen continues to have a breakthrough season. With 28 points (11 goals, 17 assists) in 56 games, he’s equaled his offensive output from his first four seasons combined (16-12-28 in 119 games). He combined with Chris Wagner and Nick Wolff to score a pretty shorthanded goal and set up Matt Filipe’s goal against Hartford. Koppanen, who has developed into a standout defensive center, leads the team with plus-23.

— Jesper Froden scored Providence’s only goal on Sunday and scored a big power-play goal to tie Monday night’s game.

— Steven Fogarty had a strong game against Hartford, setting up a goal and burying the winner in OT.

— Kyle Keyser stopped Syracuse’s Anthony Richard on a penalty shot on Sunday.

— Providence is second in the league on the penalty kill at 84.5 percent. Cam Hughes, Chris Wagner and Joona Koppanen have been standouts on the PK.

BAD

— The P-Bruins have slid to third place in the extremely tight Atlantic Division race with a .600 points percentage. With 12 games left in the regular season, they trail Springfield (.633) and Charlotte (.609).

— The P-Bruins were in a 2-6-3 slide – seven of a possible 22 points — before pulling out Monday night’s OT win. They are winless in their last four games on the road.

— A tough turnover by Nick Wolff opened the door for Hartford’s first goal on Monday.

— Sure looked to me like the officials got the too-many-men call against Providence wrong on Sunday.

— When two Syracuse players collided and Providence broke in on a 5 on 2, Oskar Steen had most of the net to shoot at, but he pulled his shot wide.

UGLY

— Goals have been hard to come by lately – just 11 in 9 games before Monday. The departure of 19-goal scorer Zach Senyshyn in a trade and the recall of Jack Studnicka to Boston have put a dent in Providence’s offense.

The Providence Bruins snapped out of a slump and earned four out of six points at home over the weekend.

On Friday, Providence was outshot, 28-18, but beat Hershey, 2-0. The P-Bruins edged Springfield, 3-2, on Saturday on a late power play goal by Victor Berglund. On Sunday afternoon, Providence lost to Utica, the first-place team in the North Division, 4-1.

After briefly taking over first place with Saturday night’s win, the P-Bruins finished the weekend in second place in the Atlantic Division.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— The 664-Pound Line — Eduards Tralmaks (209), Joona Koppanen (210) and Justin Brazeau (245) – made an impact all weekend. Koppanen and Brazeau assisted on Tyler Lewington’s game-winner on Friday; Brazeau scored off the rush on a well-executed play with his linemates on Saturday; and Brazeau made a nifty pass from behind the net to Tralmaks for Providence’s only goal on Sunday. They are the team’s leaders in plus-minus. Koppanen is plus-21; Tralmaks is plus-20; and Brazeau is plus-14.

— Saturday’s game, a tight contest between two very good teams, was one of the best of the season. Cameron Hughes was a standout all over the ice. His diving clear during a Springfield 5 on 3 in the first period epitomizes his all-out effort, night in and night out.

— Special teams were strong in Saturday night’s win. The P-Bruins scored twice with the man advantage and held the Thunderbirds’ skilled power play off the board.

— Kyle Keyser stopped 24 shots to beat Springfield. He made a key save on a Nikita Alexandrov breakaway in the second period with Providence trailing by a goal.

— Troy Grosenick continues to lead the league with a .930 save percentage and 1.99 goals-against average.

— Providence has won three straight against Hershey at The Dunk while outscoring the Bears, 11-1.

— New arrival Kodie Curran is known more for his offensive skills than his physical play, but he decked 6-foot-5, 220-pound Brett Leason of Hershey with a big hit late in Friday’s game.

— Chris Wagner, who continues to play excellent two-way hockey, absolutely punished Beck Malenstyn of the Bears with a check in front of the P-Bruins bench.

— After missing just over two months with a leg injury, Nick Wolff made his presence known with a fight against Utica’s Samuel Laberge in the first period on Sunday.

BAD

— Tough turnover for Tyler Lewington on Saturday. He fanned on a pass in the first minute of the second period, the puck went to Will Bitten and he put it on the stick of Sam Anas for an easy Springfield goal.

— Jakub Lauko has gone 25 games without a goal.

— Oskar Steen has one assist and is minus-10 in his last 9 games.

— Providence played its third game in three days on Sunday, while Utica was well-rested after having Saturday night off.

— The P-Bruins recorded a season-high 47 shots on Sunday, but scored only once.

UGLY

— Injured: Jesper Froden

The Providence Bruins have hit a rough patch. After a torrid stretch in which they won nine out of ten, they’ve gone cold, dropping six games in a row.

Playing without Jack Studnicka and Jack Ahcan, they did earn three points in three road games against the Charlotte Checkers from Thursday to Sunday, losing in a shootout in each game. They lost, 2-1, on Thursday; 3-2 on Saturday; and 2-1 on Sunday.

Those three points allowed the P-Bruins to hold onto second place in the Atlantic Division with a points percentage of .602. They are just behind first-place Springfield (.612) and just ahead of third-place Charlotte (.600).

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— The P-Bruins received tremendous goaltending in Charlotte. Troy Grosenick, returning from injury, stopped 52 of 55 shots on Thursday and Saturday. Kyle Keyser kicked out 37 of 38 shots on Sunday. They combined for a .957 save percentage and 1.23 goals-against average.

— Troy Grosenick leads the AHL in save percentage (.926) and goals-against average (2.08).

— Chris Wagner scored a goal and had 12 shots on goal on Saturday.

— They posted 19 shots on net in the first period on both Thursday and Saturday.

— Zach Senyshyn buried his team-leading 19^th goal on Saturday.

— They are fifth in the league with a points percentage of .581 on the road.

— Providence’s next six games and 14 of their final 19 are at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

BAD

— Goals have been hard to come by. They scored four goals in three games in North Carolina and have scored nine goals in the last six games.

— The referees had to look very hard to find that slash by Jakub Lauko in the third period on Sunday. Very tough call to make with three minutes left in a tie game.

— The power play went 1 for 13 on the trip.

— The P-Bruins went a combined 3 for 11 in the three shootouts.

— They outshot the Checkers, 6-0, in overtime on Saturday, but couldn’t score.

UGLY

— Injured: Nick Wolff, Victor Berglund

After winning nine of ten games, the Providence Bruins fell back to earth over the last week.

After coming from behind in the third period for a workmanlike 3-1 win in Toronto on Tuesday, the P-Bruins lost in Belleville on Wednesday, 4-1, then dropped a pair at home to Bridgeport, 7-4, on Saturday and 3-0 on Sunday.

Their best defenseman, Jack Ahcan, is on recall to Boston and their top goalie, Troy Grosenick is out with an injury. The P-Bruins were due to lose a few games after their torrid winning stretch and the absence of Ahcan and Grosenick didn’t help.

Springfield leapfrogged Providence and took over first place in the Atlantic Division with a points percentage of .627 as of the end of the day on Sunday. The P-Bruins are second at .608, followed by Hartford (.587) and Charlotte (.579).

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— Despite Saturday’s night loss, there were some offensive bright lights. Cameron Hughes had a goal and two assists, Jack Studnicka recorded three assists and Victor Berglund had a goal and an assist.

— After Oskar Steen was buried from behind by Bridgeport’s Seth Helgeson, who was penalized for boarding on Sunday, Tyler Lewington stood up for his teammate by going right at Helgeson as soon as he got out of the box and fighting him.

— Providence limited Toronto to only 15 shots on goal.

— Zach Senyshyn scored twice against the Marlies. His career-high 18 goals continues to lead the team.

BAD

— The P-Bruins were outshot, 20-5, and gave up three goals in the third period of the loss in Belleville.

— On Saturday, Kyle Keyser allowed six goals on 29 shots before getting the hook after two periods. Things started to go south when defensive defenseman Helgeson beat Keyser through the five-hole with a wrister with 30 seconds left in the first period.

— There was plenty of blame to go around on Saturday night. Turnovers by Tyler Lewington and Jack Studnicka led to a pair of Bridgeport goals in the second period.

UGLY

— The second period of Saturday’s game wasn’t just bad. It was – pick your adjective – ugly, hideous, grotesque.

The P-Bruins gave up four goals in 1:58. They were outshot, 14-4.

There probably have been worse two-minute stretches in the team’s 30-year history, but none come to mind.

— Injured: Troy Grosenick, John Moore, Nick Wolff, Matt Filipe, Blake Hillman

The good times continue to roll for the Providence Bruins.

They won all three of their games over the last week and in the process took over first place in the Atlantic Division.

On the road on Wednesday, the P-Bruins trailed Lehigh Valley 29 minutes into the game, but scored three straight and went home with a 5-3 win. Before a sellout crowd in Springfield on Saturday, Providence rolled to a 5-1 victory over the Thunderbirds and jumped into first place. Back home on Sunday, Providence pulled out a 5-4 win in overtime against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

“It shows when guys care. You see (Victor) Berglund block a huge shot there at the end. I don’t know if three months ago I would have been saying that. It’s starting to get to be part of these guys’ DNA,” said Mougenel after Sunday’s game. “We celebrate the little things here and I think it’s translating into wins.”

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— The P-Bruins have won four in a row and eight of 10.

— Cameron Hughes is playing tremendous hockey. He scored twice on Sunday and has 6-10-16 in the last 10 games.

— Kyle Keyser came on in relief of the injured Troy Grosenick against Lehigh Valley and stopped 12 of 14 shots to secure the win. He stopped 26 of 27 shots in Springfield and he bent but didn’t break in kicking out 33 shots in Sunday’s win against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He stuffed Drew O’Connor of the Pens twice on breakaways.

— Jack Studnicka was on fire in Springfield with 1-3-4. He has now scored a goal in five straight games at MassMutual Center. He’s played 10 career games in Springfield and has 9-2-11. He scored a goal in Sunday’s win, too.

— The defense pair of Victor Berglund and Brady Lyle put up impressive numbers on Sunday. Berglund had a goal and an assist. Lyle recorded two assists. Both were plus-4.

— Steven Fogarty scored a goal and two helpers against the Phantoms.

— Chris Wagner scored twice on Saturday night, including the game-winner, and was named first star.

— Oskar Steen won Sunday’s game in overtime with a terrific individual rush. He had 2-2-4 in the three games.

— Zach Senyshyn scored his 15^th and 16^th goal against Lehigh Valley.

— In his first fight of the season Sunday, J.D. Greenway pummeled Drew O’Connor of the Pens.

— Fifteen of Providence’s 25 remaining games are at home.

BAD

— Inexplicably, referees Patrick Hanrahan and Mason Riley didn’t call penalties on two blatant collisions in the crease involving Troy Grosenick and Kyle Keyser on Wednesday night in Allentown. Grosenick had to leave the game 3:41 into the second period when he was bowled over in the blue paint. Keyser was kicked in the head a few minutes into the third period. Both times Lehigh Valley forwards barged into the crease and made contact without any help from Providence defenders.

— In the same game, the misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct on Jack Studnicka after a scrum late in the second period was a head-scratcher. Two players exchange words in a scrum and one of them goes to the box for 10 minutes? Questionable.

— After being outshot 10-1 in the third period on Sunday, the P-Bruins gave up the tying goal with three seconds left in regulation time.

UGLY

— Troy Grosenick, John Moore, Nick Wolff, Matt Filipe

— Lehigh Valley’s Hayden Hodgson was suspended for three games by the AHL for elbowing Blake Hillman on Wednesday night. It’s the second time Hodgson has been suspended for a hit on a P-Bruins player. His cheap shot on Ian McKinnon in November earned him a two-game suspension.

The Providence Bruins finished their three-in-three weekend with a flourish.

Trailing the Hartford Wolf Pack 3-2 in the second period on Sunday at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, the P-Bruins answered with four goals and rolled to a 6-3 victory.

With the win, Providence earned four of six points for the weekend and jumped over the Wolf Pack and into second place in the Atlantic Division as of Sunday night.

“I like how our older players responded. It says a lot about the Aaron Nesses, the Lewingtons, the Fogartys. (Cameron Hughes) really been our go-to guy. He’s been playing excellent hockey,” said coach Ryan Mougenel after Sunday’s game.

“We found a way. We were disappointed in how we played (Saturday) night. It was a tough one for us. But we looked them in the eye and I thought the guys did a great job of responding. That’s what you want to see.’’

The P-Bruins started the weekend with a dominating 5-1 win at home against the Charlotte Checkers, driving highly touted first rounder Spencer Knight to the bench in the second period. Then they took a step back in a 5-2 loss at Hartford on Saturday night, setting the stage for Sunday’s comeback win.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— Cameron Hughes has been on fire with 3-9-12 over his last seven games. He had 2-1-3 on Friday, including a pretty shorthanded goal that got the P-Bruins off on the right foot. He recorded an assist on Saturday and set up two more goals on Sunday.

— Justin Brazeau had a five-point weekend, with two assists on Friday, a goal on Saturday and two goals on Sunday. On his breakaway goal on Sunday he faked Hartford goalie Keith Kincaid out of his jockstrap before sliding the puck into the empty net. “He dragged us into the fight early on just by completing a lot of plays,’’ Mougenel said after Sunday’s game.

— Troy Grosenick made 10-bell saves with his blocker and his catching glove on Friday night before leaving with a cramp in his right leg. On Sunday he made a number of timely saves in improving his record to 13-3-1. His 2.16 goals-against average is third in the AHL and his .924 save percentage is fifth.

— Jack Studnicka had an assist on Saturday and a goal and two helpers on Sunday.

— Joona Koppanen scored goals on Friday and Saturday and added an assist on Sunday.

— Aaron Ness scored his first two goals of the season on Sunday.

— Defenseman Blake Hillman has been a good addition.

— Providence has won seven of its last nine games.

BAD

— Tough turnovers for Victor Berglund on Saturday and Brady Lyle on Sunday. Both led to goals for the Wolf Pack.

— The power play went 0 for 8 in Saturday’s loss.

— It wasn’t a great weekend for the penalty kill. The P-Bruins were shorthanded 16 times and gave up six goals in the three games.

— The P-Bruins have a tough stretch of five games in eight days coming up. Four of the games will be on the road, including trips to Lehigh Valley, Toronto and Belleville.

UGLY

— Injured: John Moore, Jakub Lauko, Oskar Steen, Nick Wolff, Curtis Hall

It was a perfect weekend for the Providence Bruins as they earned six points by winning all three of their games.

Providence put a 5-0 beatdown on the Hershey Bears on Friday night at home. They choked the life out of the Hartford Wolf Pack, 3-1, on the road on Saturday. The P-Bruins closed out the weekend by grinding out a 4-1 victory at home against Hershey.

After starting the weekend in fourth place, Providence held down second place in the Atlantic Division with a points percentage of .610 by the end of the day on Sunday. Springfield is first with .628.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— After being a healthy scratch on Feb. 11 and 12, Eduards Tralmaks delivered a five-point weekend, with goals on Friday and Sunday and 1-2-3 on Saturday. Tralmaks has 9-7-16 and a team-leading plus-14 in 28 games.

— Joona Koppanen scored twice and added an assist in the win on Saturday.

— After signing a contract extension earlier in the week, Justin Brazeau recorded an assist in each game while playing on a very effective line with Eduards Tralmaks and Joona Koppanen.

— Providence’s goaltending was tremendous all weekend. Troy Grosenick stopped 65 of 66 shots in earning wins on Friday and Sunday. Kyle Keyser stopped 19 of 20 shots in Saturday’s win. Grosenick also recorded an assist on Sunday. He is 11-3-1. His 2.20 goal-against average is fourth in the AHL and his .922 save percentage is tied for fifth.

— Troy Grosenick made the save of the season so far on Hershey’s Axel Jonsson-Fialby on a two-on-one rush midway through the second period on Friday night.

— Jack Ahcan scored a goal and an assist on Sunday and was a breakout and offensive-zone-entry machine all weekend.

— Cameron Hughes is playing some of his best hockey of the year. On Friday, he scored a shorthanded goal on a great individual effort and added an assist. On Sunday, he assisted on three goals. Hughes leads the team in scoring with 8-21-29 in 37 games.

— The fourth goal on Sunday was a thing of beauty. The passing went from Jack Ahcan to Cameron Hughes to Chris Wagner and back to Ahcan, whose one-timer hit the net for his sixth goal of the season.

— Zach Senyshyn went to the net strong and potted his team-leading 14^th goal with two seconds left in the second period on Sunday. It ended up as the game-winner.

— Jesper Froden scored a goal in both games against Hershey.

— The P-Bruins’ power play went 4 for 12 in the three games, including three goals at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, where they’ve struggled with the man advantage this season.

— Sunday’s game drew 9,190, the biggest crowd of the season at The Dunk.

— Ian McKinnon hung in there in a bout early in Sunday’s game with Hershey heavyweight Dylan McIlrath, one of the best fighters in the AHL.

— Providence did not take a penalty in Hartford and held the Wolf Pack to just 20 shots.

BAD

— Midway through the second period on Friday, Providence’s Josiah Didier and Hershey’s Eddie Witchow were in a scrum along the boards when the Bears’ Kale Kessy threw down his gloves and jumped on Didier’s back. Didier and Witchow went to the box, but Kessy received no penalty. Incredible.

— Oskar Steen has no points in five games since he was sent down by Boston.

— The P-Bruins were outshot 9-0 in the first 10 minutes of Friday’s game.

UGLY

— Very dangerous hit by Mason Morelli of the Bears on Josiah Didier on Friday night. Morelli received two minutes for boarding, but deserved a suspension. Didier was fortunate to not be seriously injured.

— Injured: John Moore, Jakub Lauko, Nick Wolff

Depleted by callups, injuries and the Olympics, the Providence Bruins split their two games over the weekend.

They started on a positive note with a 3-2 victory at home over a strong Rochester Americans team. Providence dug deep to tie the game late with an extra attacker on the ice, then scored twice in the shootout for the win.

The next night the P-Bruins were decisively outplayed by the Springfield Thunderbirds in a 5-1 loss. The less said about that one, the better.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— The loud, enthusiastic crowd of 7,659 on Friday was reminiscent of pre-Covid days. Hopefully there will be more nights like that.

— Chris Wagner was a standout in Friday’s win. He was a factor all night and his goal with 1:38 left tied the game.

— Jesper Froden scored a nifty shootout goal against Rochester

— Justin Brazeau had a good night on Friday, scoring a goal in the first period and burying one in the shootout.

— Kyle Keyser didn’t get much help in Springfield, but he stopped 24 shots before giving up a goal.

— Troy Grosenick stopped both Rochester shooters in the shootout on Friday.

— Zach Senyshyn scored the only Providence goal in Springfield on a nice sharp-angle roofer. He is one goal and three points shy of career highs in those categories.

— The penalty kill is third in the AHL at 85.5 percent.

BAD

— Brandon Davidson of the Amerks hit Jesper Froden high and hard on Friday. No penalty. Would not be shocked if he hears from the league.

— The P-Bruins were without Jack Studnicka and Jack Ahcan, who were called up by Boston, and Aaron Ness, who is playing in the Olympics.

— Providence had only eight shots in the first 30 minutes on Saturday night.

— The next two weekends will be three-in-threes.

— Sammy Asselin was whistled for a faceoff violation in Springfield. Give me a break. In fact, linesman Glen Cooke should give everyone a break and just drop the puck.

UGLY

— Inexplicably, the P-Bruins continue to struggle on the power play at The Dunk. After going 0 for 2 on Friday, Providence is 29^th in the AHL at home at 12.9 percent. On the road they are fifth at 24.1 percent.

— They gave up 20 shots in the second period on Saturday.

— Injured: John Moore, Nick Wolff, Jakub Lauko

The Providence Bruins have hit the halfway point of the season – they’ve played 36 games and they have 36 left.

Finishing a stretch of six straight games on the road, the P-Bruins split two games over the weekend. They dropped a 5-1 decision at Lehigh Valley on Friday, then rebounded with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory in overtime against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Saturday.

The win pulled Providence out of fifth place and into fourth place in the tight Atlantic Division race.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— Back from Boston, Steven Fogarty made a tremendous play in overtime to find Jesper Froden for a backdoor goal that gave the P-Bruins a much-needed win on Saturday.

— Jesper Froden scored Providence’s only goal on Friday, then buried the OT tally on Saturday. He has goals in three straight games.

— Jeremy Swayman made back-to-back game-saving pad stops with a minute left in overtime just before Jesper Froden’s OT tally on Saturday. Swayman was solid as a rock all night, turning back 26 of 27 shots.

— Jack Ahcan broke up a three-on-one in overtime on Saturday.

— Chris Wagner made a good play to set up Zach Senyshyn’s power play goal that tied Saturday’s game. Senyshyn took over the team lead with 12 goals. He earned an assist on the overtime goal, but not a plus as he passed the puck to Steven Fogarty and then went to the bench a few seconds before Froden scored.

— Providence will play 21 of its last 36 games at The Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

— They have anywhere from four to six games in hand on the teams above them and behind them in the Atlantic Division.

BAD

— The loss on Friday extended Providence’s winless streak to four – two regulation losses and two shootout losses.

— The P-Bruins gave up two goals in 37 seconds in the first period against the Phantoms.

— Providence was outshot, 15-6, in the second period against the Penguins.

UGLY

— Injured: Jakub Lauko, John Moore, Nick Wolff

The Providence Bruins took some hits, on and off the ice, over the last week.

With their lineup depleted by injuries and callups, the P-Bruins managed to earn two of a possible six points on the road.

With Boston on the road, some of Providence’s top players – Jeremy Swayman, Steven Fogarty, Troy Grosenick, Jesper Froden, Tyler Lewington – made the trip as members of the taxi squad. Aaron Ness sat out the weekend before leaving to play for the United States in the Olympics. Callups are part of the deal for every AHL team, but it’s hard to win while missing key players.

In their first game of the week, Providence lost to Utica, the top team in the AHL, by a 4-0 score on Tuesday. On Friday, they showed a lot of resilience in Hartford, coming from behind three times, including twice in the third period, before losing in a shootout, 5-4. On Saturday, they dropped a 3-2 shootout decision in Springfield.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— Kyle Keyser played his best game of the season in Springfield, kicking out a career-high 40 shots. His stop on Michael Peca in the third period was one of the saves of the season.

— Cameron Hughes recorded an assist on Friday and two more on Saturday.

— They didn’t have any goals to show for it, but the line of Eduards Tralmaks, Joona Koppanen and Justin Brazeau was Providence’s best in Utica. They got a gift goal in Hartford when Wolf Pack goalie Keith Kincaid went behind the net to play Tralmaks’ dump-in and the puck bounced in front for an easy goal for Koppanen.

— Jack Ahcan continues to be an impact player. He scored a goal in Hartford off a pretty pass from Cam Hughes and added an assist. He also recorded a helper in Springfield. He’s tied for the AHL lead in goals among rookie defensemen with five.

— Andrew Peski scored his first goal in a P-Bruins uniform in Hartford off a good pass by Matt Filipe. A nice rush by Filipe culminated in a rebound goal by Chris Wagner in Springfield.

— Chris Wagner had a good weekend. He recorded a beatdown on Justin Richards of the Wolf Pack in a Friday night bout, then scored a goal in Springfield the next night.

BAD

— After starting the week in first place in the Atlantic Division, the P-Bruins finished the weekend in fourth place.

— The penalty kill gave up four goals on 13 penalties in the three games.

— Springfield’s Will Bitten flattened Kyle Keyser in the crease during the second period. Inexplicably, there was no call on the play.

UGLY

— Injured: Jakub Lauko, Nick Wolff