Good, bad & ugly from Providence Bruins weekend

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Riley Tufte is knocked down after depositing his 11th goal of the year in the net against Bridgeport on Friday. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

The Providence Bruins split their two games over the weekend.

They beat the Bridgeport Islanders, 4-1, at home on Friday. They lost to the Springfield Thunderbirds, 6-4, on the road on Saturday.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— Michael DiPietro and Mike Callahan got word on Wednesday that they will represent the P-Bruins at the AHL All-Star Classic in Palm Desert, Calif. on Feb. 2 and 3. Both are worthy selections. Vinni Lettieri would have been a deserving pick, too.

— DiPietro stopped 34 of 35 shots in Friday night’s win. He is 12-5-3 with a .925 save percentage. His 2.05 goals-against average is third in the AHL.

— Lettieri had two goals and a helper on Friday. He is third in the AHL in scoring with 14-21-35 in 35 games.

— Fabian Lysell had a productive weekend with two assists on Friday and a tip-in goal on Saturday. He has 3-8-11 in the last 10 games.

— Georgii Merkulov scored a goal and an assist on Friday and set up a Patrick Brown power play score with a good pass on Saturday. He has 5-12-17 in the last 16 games. Seems to me he could contribute on Boston’s sputtering power play.

— Riley Duran played with energy in both games and scored a goal on Saturday.

— Brett Harrison took the puck to the net for a nice goal in Springfield.

— Riley Tufte, Frederic Brunet and Mason Millman are tied for the team lead with plus-10.

— Providence’s next two games are against Syracuse and they’ll face Rochester, Laval and Cleveland over the next couple of weeks. It’s a welcome break from the usual bland diet of Bridgeport, Hartford and Springfield.

BAD

— In Springfield, by the time the P-Bruins registered a shot on net nine minutes in, they were already two goals down.

— Brandon Bussi gave up two goals on six shots in the first 8:04 before being pulled against the Thunderbirds.

— Saturday night was a tough one for Providence’s top line. Matt Poitras was minus-four and Lettieri and Merkulov were minus-three.

— Maybe Poitras had a good reason to slash Springfield’s Corey Schueneman late in the second period. Unfortunately for Poitras, referee Chris Rumble was five feet away and couldn’t miss the infraction. The Thunderbirds scored the go-ahead goal two seconds after the penalty on Poitras expired.

— Merkulov and Lettieri broke in alone on Springfield’s Colton Ellis with 6:28 left in the second period but didn’t score as Ellis turned away Merkulov’s shot.

— After battling back from a two-goal deficit to tie the game, the P-Bruins fell behind again as they gave up a goal with 23 seconds left in the second period.

— The P-Bruins don’t play Bridgeport again for a month. Too bad. The P-Bruins are 8-0 against the last-place Islanders.

UGLY

— Injured: Ian Mitchell, Tyler Pitlick

Good, bad & ugly from Providence Bruins weekend

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The Providence Bruins headed home from their weekend in Hershey, Pa., with only one out of four points.

In their first game of the trip on Saturday night, the P-Bruins were on the cusp of being run out of the Giant Center in the first period as they fell behind by three goals. To their credit, they stopped the bleeding and went to work. They chipped away and tied the game in the third period and earned a point after losing, 4-3, in a shootout.

On Sunday, Providence held its own for just over a period before they were blitzed by the Bears, 5-1.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— The P-Bruins built some character with their comeback on Saturday night. Captain Patrick Brown and Vinni Lettieri put on a master class in veteran leadership as the team rallied from three goals down. Credit to Brown for going right after Matthew Strome after the Hershey winger elbowed Matt Poitras. Big props to Mike DiPietro for locking it down as his teammates clawed their way back to even.

— Brown scored an important power play goal on Saturday to put the Bruins on the board with 48 seconds left in the first period. The goal gave them a positive to build on instead of going to the room facing a 0-3 deficit. On Sunday, Brown set up a Max Jones goal that gave Providence the lead 80 seconds into the game. Brown has points in four straight games.

— Riley Tufte scored his 10th goal on Saturday.

— Vinni Lettieri’s 12th goal of the year tied the game in the third period on Sunday. He continues to lead the team with 12-20-32 in 31 games.

BAD

— Sunday’s game spun away from the P-Bruins went they allowed two goals within 30 seconds in the second period.

— They could muster only 19 shots on Sunday. It made for an easy night for Hershey’s backup goalie, Clay Stevenson.

UGLY

— Injured/sick: Ian Mitchell, Riley Duran, Tyler Pitlick

Good, bad & ugly from Providence Bruins weekend

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John Farinacci celebrates with teammates after scoring in the first period against Hartford (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

The Providence Bruins only played twice last weekend and they won both games.

They started with a 4-1 victory against the Bridgeport Islanders on Friday night, then beat the Hartford Wolf Pack, 4-1, on Saturday night. Both games were on the road.

The month of December was good for the P-Bruins as they went 9-2-1, earning 19 of 24 points. Not too shabby, considering the way they struggled at times in the opening weeks of the season.

Here’s the good, bad & ugly.

GOOD

— As 2025 starts, the Providence Bruins have a record of 17-11-3-0. They are tied for second in the Atlantic Division with 37 points, 4 behind the first-place Hershey Bears.

— Fabian Lysell had one of his best games of the season in Bridgeport. He scored a goal, earned a primary assist on two other goals and was plus-3. The next night in Boston, Lysell played his first NHL game for the Bruins and didn’t look out of place in a win over Columbus.

— Riley Tufte had his most productive game of the season with 2-1-3 and plus-3 against Bridgeport. He is second on the team with 9 goals.

— John Farinacci had 3 assists and was plus-3 in the win at Bridgeport. The next night in Hartford he scored 1:40 into the game and set up a Max Jones goal early in the second period.

— Matt Poitras had an empty net goal and an assist in Hartford. He has 8-10-18 in 19 games.

— Providence received good goaltending in both games. Michael DiPietro stopped 31 of 32 shots on Friday and Brandon Bussi kicked out 36 of 37 on Saturday, including 15 in the first period.

— Billy Sweezey made quick work of Hartford’s 6-foot-7 Dylan Roobroeck in a late-game bout on Saturday.

— Both Frederic Brunet and Ian Mitchell were plus-3 against Bridgeport.

BAD

— Jeffrey Viel is tied for the league lead in minor penalties with 22.

— Providence’s power play on the road is 27th in the AHL at 13 percent – 7 for 54.

— They are 0-8-1-0 when trailing after two periods.

UGLY

— Injured: Ian Mitchell

Good, bad & ugly from Providence Bruins week

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Matt Poitras has 7-9-16 in 17 games since being sent to AHL last month. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

In their last three games before the Christmas break, the Providence Bruins earned three out of six points.

The week started with a 4-3 road loss in overtime against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Wednesday night as Providence’s six-game winning streak was snapped.

The P-Bruins responded with one of their best all-around performances of the season in a 1-0 road win against the Hartford Wolf Pack on Friday.

At home on Saturday, Providence dug an 0-2 hole that they couldn’t climb out of on the way to a 4-2 loss to the Wolf Pack.

“There’s a lot of good elements (from the week), for sure. (Friday night) was one of our best games that we’ve played to date. There were things in (Saturday’s) game that you don’t like. We let our emotions get the best of us, spilled over from last night a little bit, and it cost us. Their goalie was good. Both nights their goaltending was really good. You’ve got to find ways to win,” said coach Ryan Mougenel.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— Michael DiPietro stopped all 21 Hartford shots for his second shutout of the season in Friday’s 1-0 win, including a 10-bell save on Adam Sykora with 9:54 left. He is having an excellent season with a 10-4-2 record. His goal’s-against average (2.05) is fifth in the AHL; his save percentage (.923) is sixth.

— After Hartford took liberties with Matt Poitras on Friday, Ryan Mast did what needed to be done, dropping the gloves with Alex Belzile, who had cross-checked Poitras in the back after the whistle.

— Poitras extended his goal streak to seven straight games with a power-play tuck on Wednesday before he was held off the board on Friday. While he didn’t score that night, Poitras played a superb two-way game.

— Georgii Merkulov made a couple of nice passes to set up power play goals. He passed through a seam to Matt Poitras for a one-timer against Lehigh Valley and found Vinni Lettieri for a score in the last minute of the first period on Saturday. He has 3-9-12 in his last 10 games.

— The power play, which was near the bottom of the league not very long ago, is up to 12th at 18.8 percent.

— Brett Harrison made a good pass to Riley Duran at the edge of the crease for a goal in the third period at Lehigh Valley. It capped an excellent response shift for the P-Bruins, who’d given up the go-ahead goal to the Phantoms just 18 seconds before.

— Jackson Edward saved a goal in the first period on Wednesday, sweeping the puck off the goal line as it was about to roll in.

— Providence outshot Hartford 21-5 in the first period and 16-5 in the second on Friday. At one point, the P-Bruins put 25 straight shots on the Wolf Pack net from the first period into the second.  

— Stick tap for Providence equipment staffer Shjon Whitehead. On Saturday night, after Vinni Lettieri’s stick snapped, Whitehead quickly handed a new stick to Lettieri, who passed to Patrick Brown seconds later for a power play goal.

— Jordan Oesterle has been in Boston for six weeks, but he continues to lead all AHL defensemen with a shooting percentage of 23.1 – three goals on 13 shots.

BAD

— Fabian Lysell was awarded a penalty shot with the score tied at three and 6:27 left in the third period against Lehigh Valley. With the go-ahead goal on his stick, he skated in, threw a bunch of moves at Lehigh Valley goalie Cal Peterson, then fumbled the puck and failed to even get a shot on net.

— Down by a goal, Providence had three power plays in the second half of the third period of Saturday’s loss but didn’t score.

— Six of Providence’s next seven games are on the road.  

— Tyler Pitlick, Jeffrey Viel and John Farinacci broke into the Hartford zone on a three on one with five-and-a-half minutes left in the second on Friday, but Dylan Garand made the save for the Wolf Pack.

UGLY  

— Providence was 7-0 when leading after two periods and was ahead by two goals entering the third period against Lehigh Valley, but then gave up three goals in just over four minutes early and ended up losing in OT. Ouch.

— The P-Bruins’ bus pulled into the AMP at 3:30 a.m. on Thursday after the trip back from Wednesday night’s game in Lehigh Valley.

— Injured: Max Jones, Ryan Mast

Good, bad & ugly from Providence Bruins week

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Matt Poitras beats Hartford’s Louis Domingue through the five-hole for Providence’s second goal on Sunday. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

After struggling to keep their heads above water for the first couple of months of the season, the Providence Bruins are now one of the hottest teams in the American Hockey League.

They won all three of their games last week, extending their victory streak to six and moving up to second place in the Atlantic Division.

The P-Bruins started with a 4-2 road win against the Bridgeport Islanders on Wednesday. Back at home on Friday, they beat Bridgeport again, 5-3. They followed that with a 5-3 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack at home on Sunday.

“It’s not like the effort wasn’t there (when the team was losing),” said coach Ryan Mougenel after Sunday’s game. “The one thing we’ve had is a lot of continuity. That helps a lot, especially as we’ve kind of been through (some struggles) a little bit. With the same guys pushing they get used to each other, there’s some chemistry building and our team game is building.

“For me it comes from the leadership group that’s been outstanding. And it’s not just guys like (Lettieri and Brown). We talk about them a lot. But the Viels, the Mitchells, the Callahans have done a lot of little things that translate into wins. I’m proud of how they’ve built the group.”

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— As of Sunday night, Providence was 14-10-2. With 30 points, they trailed the first place Hershey Bears by nine points in the Atlantic Division. Just a point behind the P-Bruins are Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Charlotte.

— Matt Poitras has goals in 6 straight games and 11 points in his last 7 games. In Sunday’s game, he unselfishly passed up a shot at the empty net and instead fed Georgii Merkulov for a goal. Overall, he has 6-8-14 and a plus-8 in 14 games.

— Vinni Lettieri had two assists in each of Providence’s three games. He has 1-11-12 in his last seven games and is up to fifth in the AHL in scoring with 10-17-27 in 26 games.

— Georgii Merkulov has a 7-game point streak. After a slow start he has 6-17-23 in 23 games.

— The P-Bruins struggled to score earlier in the season, but now they’ve put up 28 goals in the last 6 games.

— Fabian Lysell had a pair of productive games. He scored a goal on Friday and had two assists on Sunday. The first helper on Sunday was a pretty setup for a Patrick Brown goal.

— Max Jones scored a pretty goal on an individual effort in Bridgeport.

— Jackson Edward scored his first pro goal in Bridgeport on Wednesday.

— Jeffrey Viel had a goal and an assist on Sunday.

BAD

— On Sunday, with 60 seconds left in a 5-2 game, referee Liam Maaskant felt the need to call a holding-the-stick penalty on Hartford’s Ryder Korczak. C’mon, man. Show that you have a feel for where the game is.

— On Friday, after a Bridgeport player fell down in the general vicinity of Providence’s Frederic Brunet, referee Sydney Harris whistled Brunet for tripping. Ridiculous.

UGLY

—  The P-Bruins had zero power plays on Wednesday night in Bridgeport. None. Not one.

Good, bad & ugly from Providence Bruins weekend

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Mason Millman unloads a shot that ended up in the net for Providence’s first goal on Saturday night. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

It’s been feast or famine for the Providence Bruins in recent weeks, but they ate like kings over the last three games as they left their offensive struggles behind them, put up a total of 14 goals and won three in a row.

They went on the road to beat the Utica Comets, 3-2, on Friday, then returned home to beat the Bridgeport Islanders, 6-3, on Saturday and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 5-0, on Sunday.

“The guys should be proud of how they played this weekend. They got the message. We got the win (on Saturday) but when you take ownership of your game, I think there’s guys, our staff included, who knew we had to be better. For a three-in-three, the guys played extremely hard,” said coach Ryan Mougenel.

“It was our older guys, they set the tone (on Sunday). Tyler Pitlick, Patrick Brown, Vinni Lettieri were outstanding. Mike Callahan and Ian Mitchell have handled a lot of difficult minutes. Cally for me has been absolutely outstanding.”

As of Sunday night, they were in fifth place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 11-10-2 for 24 points. They are only one point away from second place.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— The power play went 5 for 14 across the three games – 2 for 6 on Friday, 1 for 2 on Saturday and 2 for 5 on Sunday. It was 15th in the AHL as of Sunday evening at 18 percent. That’s a big improvement from a few weeks ago when it was one of the worst in the league.

— It was a good week for Matt Poitras. He’s scored goals in three straight games and added a couple of assists. He looks to be in better game shape than when he arrived. He’s been more effective deeper into his shifts and better able to win races and battle for pucks. He has 10 points in 11 games with three goals and seven assists.

— Brandon Bussi appears to be finding his game with two solid wins in a row. He kicked out 18 of 20 shots in Utica and stopped all 21 shots against the Penguins in recording his first shutout of the season.

— Vinni Lettieri had a goal and three assists in the three games. He continues to lead the team with 10-11-21 in 23 games.

— Jeffrey Viel’s shorthanded score on Sunday was one of the prettiest goals of the season. “It was good to see him get rewarded for how hard he works,” said Mougenel.

— Georgii Merkulov had a goal and an assist against the Comets, an assist against the Islanders and a goal against the Penguins. He has 5-13-18 in 20 games.

— Mason Millman has contributed solid minutes since his recall from Maine in mid-November. The 23-year-old defenseman had a goal and an assist on Saturday and two assists on Sunday.

— Jackson Edward made a perfect pass to set up Matt Poitras’ goal in the second period against the Penguins.

— Brett Harrison snapped a streak of 33 regular-season games without a goal on Sunday.

BAD

— It was such a good week that the only bad I could come up with is that the penalty kill is 27th in the league on the road at 14.6 percent.

UGLY

— Injured: Alec Regula

Good, bad & ugly from Providence Bruins week

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Not a lot to be thankful for this week as the Providence Bruins season took a wrong turn.

The P-Bruins lost all three of their games, one on the road and two at home, while managing to score a total of only five goals.

They started the week with a game in Utica on Wednesday, where they came from behind to tie the game early in the third period before losing to the Comets, 5-3.

In a rematch against Utica on Saturday, Providence could not solve Nico Daws, who stopped all 33 shots in a 3-0 decision for the Comets.

On Sunday, the P-Bruins lost, 3-2, to the Springfield Thunderbirds.

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— After Providence started slow on Sunday, Billy Sweezey gave his team a bit of a spark by dropping the gloves with Reece Newkirk.

— Trevor Kuntar was credited with a first period assist in Utica and later scored his first goal of the season, snapping a stretch of 14 straight games without a goal.

— Matt Poitras didn’t get a lot done in the two games against Utica, but he was productive against Springfield on Sunday with two assists. He has 0-5-5 in 8 games.

— Defenseman Mason Millman scored his first goal of the year on Sunday.

BAD

— They finished the weekend in seventh place in the eight-team Atlantic Division with a record of 8-10-2-0 and they are 13th in the 15-team Eastern Conference.

— Providence has had some of the best goaltending in the AHL the last couple of years. Last week, not so much. Brandon Bussi wasn’t sharp on Wednesday and Michael DiPietro allowed a leaker on Saturday and another on Sunday.

— The P-Bruins are in the bottom half of the league on both the power play (23rd at 14.7 percent) and the penalty kill (19th at 81.9 percent).

— While shorthanded in the second period on Wednesday, Max Jones and Jeffrey Viel broke into the Utica zone on a two on zero, but Nico Daws stopped Jones’ shot. You have to find a way to bury one there.

— Providence had a good start on Wednesday and took the lead early on a Vinni Lettieri goal, but finished the first period trailing by a goal even after outshooting Utica, 14-6.

— After the P-Bruins tied the score early in the third period in Utica, they allowed the Comets to retake the lead just 17 seconds later.

— Utica scored on two of its first four shots on Wednesday.

— Georgii Merkulov was minus-3 in Utica.

— They outshot Utica,13-6,but didn’t score in the third period on Saturday. They outshot Springfield, 13-7, in the third on Sunday and scored only once.

— With referees Tanner Doiron and Harrison O’Pray in charge, the power plays on Sunday were five for Springfield to two for Providence.

— Brett Harrison scored his last regular season goal on Feb. 9, 33 games ago.

UGLY

— Injured: Alec Regula, Fabian Lysell

Good, bad & ugly from Providence Bruins weekend

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Georgii Merkulov beats Lehigh Valley goalie Parker Gahagen for the winning goal in overtime on Saturday night. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

The first six weeks of the season have been a slog at times for the Providence Bruins, but things are looking up.

The P-Bruins won both of their games over the weekend, starting with a thorough start-to-finish win at home over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 3-0, on Friday night. At the AMP again on Saturday, Providence beat the Phantoms, 2-1, in overtime.

“Really, if you look at our last seven games, I think they’ve been a step in the right direction, building it the right way,” coach Ryan Mougenel said late Saturday.

“The D did a real good job. (Mike) Callahan and (Billy) Sweezey have been good lieutenants back there, showing the young kids how we need to play. (Ian) Mitchell was excellent (Saturday) and our goalies made the saves that they need to make. It’s going in the right direction. We’re building our team game.”

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— A week ago, the P-Bruins were in sixth place in the Atlantic Division as of Sunday night. This week they are fourth with a record of 8-7-2. They are one point behind the second-place Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

— Providence’s goaltending was outstanding all weekend and team defense was much improved. On Friday, Brandon Bussi played his best game of the season in posting a 30-save shutout. He made several 10-bell saves in the third period. On Saturday, Mike DiPietro stopped 22 of 23 shots.

— Georgii Merkulov didn’t sulk after being sent down from Boston. He was credited with a primary assist on Friday and won Saturday’s game with a nifty breakaway goal in overtime. Second on the team in points with 3-10-13 in 14 games, he is riding a seven-game point streak.

— Vinni Lettieri made a beautiful play to set up Riley Tufte’s second period goal on Saturday. Lettieri leads the team with 8-6-14 in 17 games.

— Fabian Lysell snapped a nine-game stretch without a goal when he scored his second goal of the year in the first period on Friday.

— John Farinacci made a pretty pass to set up Frederic Brunet’s goal on Friday.

— Matt Poitras recorded two assists in Friday’s game.

— Providence’s next five games are against teams that are below them in the standings: Utica (3), Springfield and Bridgeport.

BAD

— Trevor Kuntar (14 games) and Brett Harrison (13 games) are both still looking for their first goals of the season.

— The P-Bruins are averaging 15.06 penalty minutes per game, eighth most in the AHL.

— On the road, Providence’s penalty kill is 27th in the league.          

— They are 0-4-1-0 when trailing after two periods and 0-4-0-0 when outshot.

UGLY

— Injured: Alec Regula

Good, bad and ugly from Providence Bruins weekend

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Riley Duran tucks the puck behind Cleveland goalie Jet Greaves in the first period on Friday night. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

It was a disappointing weekend for the Providence Bruins.

After sweeping all three games the previous weekend, the P-Bruins went winless in this weekend’s three games, though they did earn points on Friday and Sunday via losses in overtime.

They started with a 4-3 OT loss at home to the Cleveland Monsters on Friday. In Hartford on Saturday, Providence gave up three third-period goals in a 4-2 defeat.

That set the stage for a gut-punch loss at home on Sunday. Providence led 3-1 with under 10 minutes left but allowed Cleveland to tie the game and then win it, 4-3, just 19 seconds into extra time.

The P-Bruins didn’t help their cause by taking three penalties in the third period. While they killed all three, they expended a lot of energy.

“We took some bad penalties. I thought we were playing a decent game for three in three, a real smart game. For us, the penalties wear our penalty killers down and that kind of set the tone for the end. At the end, that’s on me. I’ve got to make sure I’m getting the right guys, the fresh guys out there. That’s on me, for sure,” said coach Ryan Mougenel.

Providence ended the weekend with a record of 6-7-2-0. They are in sixth place in the Atlantic Division. The good news is there are 57 games left and they are just three points behind second-place Wilkes-Barre Scranton.

“We went through similar things last year and we all got our games in a good place. Getting that chemistry is real important. There’s guys that are going to get a lot of opportunity, some young players, and when you get that opportunity, it’s what you do with it,” said Mougenel.

“We’re at that point where if you’re not getting it done, it’s kind of like (on to) the next guy in line. That’s part of the growth, too, the strongest survive. We’re at that point right now where they’ve got to start growing. We’ve got to see it, we can’t just keep talking about it. We need more from our young guys, for sure.”

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

—  The line of Marc McLaughlin between Riley Duran and Tyler Pitlick was a revelation Friday night as McLaughlin and Duran scored goals and McLaughlin earned the primary helper on Frederic Brunet’s score.

— Marc McLaughlin had awful puck luck last season but has had a hot stick lately with goals in five straight games. He had a goal and an assist on Friday, a goal on Saturday and another goal on Sunday. After scoring 8 goals in 68 games last season, he already has 5 goals in 15 games.

— Tyler Pitlick, who played a strong two-way game with a goal and an assist on Sunday, turned in the OT shift of the season so far on Friday, taking it to the net himself for a chance then hunting the puck down and setting up Fabian Lysell for a great opportunity. He has 4-6-10 in 12 games while playing on a PTO.

— Riley Duran scored a nice goal on a strong move to the net on Friday and added an assist later in the game.

— Fabian Lysell had two assists and hit a post and crossbar on Sunday. “It was good to see Fabian play better today,” said Mougenel.

— Brandon Bussi made a 10-bell side-to-side save on a Grade A shorthanded chance by Hartford’s Anton Blidh with 6:34 left in the second period on Saturday.

— Vinni Lettieri had a goal and an assist in Hartford. He leads the team with 8-5-13 in 15 games.

— The puck is not going in for feisty Trevor Kuntar (no goals in 13 games), but he flattened Hartford’s Brandon Scanlin with a clean check in the third period on Saturday even though Scanlin has four inches and 15 pounds on him.

— Matt Poitras recorded his first AHL point with a secondary assist on Vinni Lettieri’s goal in Hartford.

— Frederic Brunet scored his first goal of the year on Friday.

BAD

— NHL callups are part of the deal in the AHL, but the P-Bruins took a major hit on Friday night when they were missing four top players in Patrick Brown, Georgii Merkulov, Jordan Oesterle and Riley Tufte.

— Just 23 seconds after cutting Hartford’s lead to one goal late in the game on Saturday, the P-Bruins allowed a Matt Rempe goal that restored the Wolf Pack lead.

— Fabian Lysell remains stuck on one goal. His only tuck of the season came on Oct. 19 in Springfield. He had a glittering opportunity in OT on Friday, all alone 15 feet in front of the net with the puck on his stick, but he shot it wide.

— Matt Poitras gave the puck away behind the Providence net at the start of the sequence that ended up with Casey Fitzgerald’s goal for Hartford in the third period on Saturday. All in all, it was an underwhelming first three AHL games for Poitras.

— Sunday was the first time the P-Bruins lost a game after leading going into the third period.

— They were shorthanded four times on Friday and gave up two goals.

— While the Bruins played in Hartford on Saturday, the Monsters had the night off.

UGLY

— Injured: Alec Regula, Riley Duran

Good, bad & ugly from Providence Bruins weekend

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Max Jones celebrates after muscling in a loose puck from the edge of the crease on Sunday. (Photo courtesy of Providence Bruins)

Things are looking up for the Providence Bruins.

They were struggling heading into their first three-in-three weekend of the season, but they reeled off three consecutive wins as their offense came to life.

The P-Bruins started at home on Friday with a 3-2 win over the Bridgeport Islanders. In Saturday’s return match in Connecticut, Providence broke open a close game in the third period and rolled to an 8-4 victory. Back home against the Hartford Wolf Pack on Sunday, they fell behind in the first period but clawed their way to a 4-2 win.

“I liked our team game. A lot of guys stepped up and it showed,” coach Ryan Mougenel said after Sunday’s game. “It hasn’t been an easy start, but I think we’re going to be a better team for it. I really liked the buy in and the dig in from, especially, our older guys. They did a great job of leading and setting the right example.”

Here’s the good, bad and ugly.

GOOD

— The power play was last in the league on Friday but after going 6 for 15 in the three games it climbed up to 19th as of Sunday night. The penalty kill chipped in with a shorthanded goal on Friday and again on Saturday.

— The three wins evened Providence’s record at 6-6.

— Providence scored four straight goals in 3:07 to pull away in Saturday’s game.

— Tyler Pitlick had two assists in Bridgeport, then scored the winner and added an assist on Sunday.

— Vinni Lettieri could have shot the puck into the open net himself late in Sunday’s game, but instead unselfishly passed it to Patrick Brown, who scored an easy goal to salt away the win. Lettieri scored a goal on Friday and a goal and an assist on Saturday. He is tied for the team lead in scoring with 7-4-11 in 12 games.

— Georgii Merkulov is heating up. He had assists on Friday and Sunday and a goal and two helpers on Saturday. He is tied with Lettieri in points with 2-9-11 in 12 games.

— Michael DiPietro stuffed Bridgeport’s Julien Gauthier on a penalty shot with 6:07 remaining in the game on Friday. After posting wins on Friday and Sunday, DiPietro is 5-2 with a 1.70 goals-against average, which is fourth in the AHL.

— Max Jones had a solid first two games. He scored his first Providence goal on Sunday.

— Mike Callahan is playing some of the best hockey of his three years with the Bruins.

— Ian Mitchell scored the game-winning goal and added an assist on Saturday. 

— Brandon Bussi stopped 32 shots in recording his first victory of the season against the Islanders on Saturday.

— Jeffrey Viel and Riley Duran had a good weekend on the penalty kill. Viel buried the shorthanded GWG on Friday and Duran scored his first goal of the year on Saturday night with help from Viel.

— The P-Bruins have had the fifth-most power-play opportunities in the league with 52.

— Marc McLaughlin has goals in his last two games.

— John Farinacci scored goals 2:11 apart on Saturday.

— Joey Abate provided some energy with a fight against Eetu Liukas in Bridgeport.

— Ryan Mast had two assists on Friday.

BAD

— The P-Bruins allowed Bridgeport to score just 15 seconds into the second period on Saturday. They gave up another one with 38 seconds left in the same period.

— They were outshot, 15-7, by the Islanders in the third period on Friday.

— Jeffrey Viel leads the AHL with 10 minor penalties.

UGLY

— Mike DiPietro was victimized by an awful bounce on Sunday. A rim from center ice bounced off the backboards, hit DiPietro in the back of the leg and deflected into the net for Hartford’s first goal

— Injured: Alec Regula, Jaxon Nelson