Fresh out of 4 years of college hockey at Harvard, Alex Fallstrom will make his professional debut today with Providence. He was signed to an entry level contract by the Boston Bruins yesterday. (Photo Credit: Bridget Samuels/Flickr: bridgetds)
Recap: Providence 5, Springfield 2
The Providence Bruins completed a home-and-home sweep of the Springfield Falcons on Saturday night in Springfield when they beat the Falcons for the 2nd time in 2 nights to move into 2nd place overall in the Eastern Conference. Niklas Svedberg got his 2nd start and 2nd win in 2 nights, giving the rookie goalie 30 wins on the season in his 27-save performance. Kyle MacKinnon scored twice, earning 1st star honors, while Ryan Spooner had a goal and an assist and Torey Krug and Carter Camper each had 2 assists.
Providence put 35 shots on Springfield’s Curtis McElhinney, beating him 4 times and adding an empty-netter at the end. They first had to overcome an early deficit after Springfield’s Nathan Moon put the Falcons up 1-0 10:04 into the 1st period on his 2nd goal of the season from Dalton Smith.
Justin Florek tied it up at 17:45 of the 1st when he netted his 7th point in 6 games, and 2nd goal in 2 games. Florek’s 9th goal of the season was assisted by Colby Cohen and David Warsofsky.
The 2 teams remained deadlocked through the 2nd period, when Springfield out-shot Providence 12-7 but came up empty-handed. In the 3rd period, Providence jumped to the lead on their only power play opportunity of the night. Springfield’s Spencer Machachek was sent to the penalty box for interference 1:04 into the 3rd period, and 58 seconds later, Spooner had his 11th goal of the season from Krug and Camper.
Nick Drazenovic tied the game at 2 9:04 into the 3rd period. His 17th of the season came from Ryan Russel and Bryan Helmer. Kyle MacKinnon put Providenec back on top a few minutes later, 13:02 into the 3rd period, on his 11th of the season, assisted by Spooner and Graham Mink.
Max Sauve gave Providence it’s first 2-goal lead of the night at 16:36 of the 3rd. Craig Cunningham and Camper set Sauve up for his 9th of the season to give Providence a 4-2 edge. MacKinnon scored his 2nd of the night and added the insurance goal for a 5-2 victory at 18:35 after Springfield had pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker. Krug picked up a helper on MacKinnon’s 12th of the season.
With the win, Providence leapfrogged Springfield in the conference standings to secure 2nd place, which they look to defend today against divisional rival Manchester Monarchs.
Preview: Manchester @ Providence
Providence sits atop the Atlantic Division and 2nd in the Eastern Conference with their 37-19-0-5 record, which gives them 79 points in 61 games this season. Manchester is 29-25-3-4 for 65 points in 61 games this season. They are 3rd in the Atlantic and 10th in the Eastern Conference, only 1 point out of 8th place and fighting for their playoff lives.
- Season Series: Providence has the edge so far at 6-4-0-0
- Last 10: Providence is 6-2-0-2; Manchester is 7-1-1-1
- At home, Providence is 20-9-0-3
- On the road, Manchester is 14-14-1-1
- Goal differential: Providence is +19; Manchester is +9
- Power play: Providence ranks 9th (18.4%); Manchestser ranks 22nd (15.0%)
- Penalty kill: Providence ranks 8th (84.9%); Manchester ranks 14th (83.6%)
Manchester’s top scorer, and top rookie scorer in the AHL, Tyler Toffoli, made his NHL debut with the Kings last night, and will not be with the Monarchs. They still have a top scorer in Linden Vey, who ranks 5th overall in the AHL in scoring with 55 points (15 G, 40 A), and 1st in the AHL in assists with 40.
Alex Fallstrom, who was signed to an entry-level contract yesterday by the Boston Bruins, will play today for Providence. Fallstrom is a native Swede who has played with the Harvard hockey team for 4 years. Before that, he attended prestigious Shattuck-St. Mary’s, a private high school that boasts alum such as Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews.
Although he did not dress the last 2 nights, Michael Hutchinson will start for Providence today.
A Cup A Bruin 