Ryan Spooner had a goal in Providence’s 6-3 win over Springfield in December. (Steph Vail/Flickr)
This afternoon the Providence Bruins (17-12-0-2) host the Northeast division-leading Springfield Falcons (18-9-2-3) at the Dunkin Donuts Center in the 4th match-up between the 2 teams this season. The Bruins won 2 of the 3 previous games, although the one loss was a frustrating shutout at home in October. All 3 previous games have featured starting goaltenders Curtis McElhinney and Niklas Svedberg and at least one goal by the Falcons’ Nick Drazenovic. The last time the 2 teams played was in December at the Dunk and the Bruins won 6-3 in a game where the scoring was started on a shorthanded goal by Lane MacDermid and finished with an empty net hattrick by Jamie Tardif.
A tight race for 2nd place in the Atlantic division is taking place between the Bruins, the Worcester Sharks, and the Manchester Monarchs, so it is critical for the Bruins to get 2 points today. Currently, the Sharks are 1 point ahead of Providence, but the Bruins have 1 game in hand. Both teams play today. Manchester, which is tied with Providence in 3rd place with 36 points, does not play today, and also has played 4 more games than Providence. If the Bruins can win today, and Worcester loses, they can take over 2nd place in the division.
| Rank | Atlantic Div | GP | Record | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portland | 34 | 20-12-1-1 | 42 |
| 2 | Worcester | 32 | 17-12-1-2 | 37 |
| 3 | Providence | 31 | 17-12-0-2 | 36 |
| 4 | Manchester | 35 | 16-15-2-2 | 36 |
| 5 | St. Johns | 36 | 15-19-1-1 | 32 |
MacDermid’s shorthanded goal in the last game against Springfield set the tone for the rest of the game and the Bruins must do the same to kill penalties as well as convert on their own power play opportunities if they want to win. The Bruins penalty kill has been a major liability this season and Springfield has a potent power play, currently ranking 9th in the league in power play percentage at 18.8%. Cam Atkinson has the 3rd best power play point total in the AHL with 18 total points on the man advantage. Meanwhile, Providence’s penalty kill percentage is ranked 25th at 80.3%. The Bruins take more penalties than any other team, so first of all they must stay disciplined and stay out of the penalty box.
The futility of the Bruins power play in the last game was almost their undoing, and they cannot let it continue to drain momentum. Although Providence’s power play is right in the middle of the league’s overall rank at 15th (16.5%), Springfield has a great penalty kill that is ranked 6th overall at 85.6% efficiency. Carrying the puck into the zone has been sloppy, and the defensemen on the points in particular have been slow to get to the puck when it gets to them at the point – often unable to handle it at all. If they can just get the puck on net, they have been strong in the crease and jumping on rebounds.
- In their last 10 games, Springfield is 4-5-1-0, while Providence is 6-4-0-0.
- Providence is 8-6-0-2 at home, while Springfield is 10-4-1-0 on the road
- The previous 3 games have seen the team that had fewer shots win the game.
- The shot totals from those 3 previous games are 93 for Springfield and 92 for Providence, making McElhinney’s save percentage against Providence this season .902 (.927 overall on the season) vs Svedberg’s .924 (.921 overall on the season). I assume both will start today, although I have not read or heard anything about the AHL at all because of all the NHL lockout buzz.
- Another important stat is goal differential: on the season, the Bruins have a -6 goal differential (78 goals for versus 84 goals against) but Springfield has a +27.
I had more numbers for today’s game preview, but the NHL coming back to life is throwing everything into utter chaos. I don’t want to give any wrong information so I’ll just leave it at this for now.
I will be live-tweeting the game from our twitter account, @ACupABruin. See you at 3pm!
A Cup A Bruin 