Pregaming: Providence @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

Svedberg owns. Pass it on.

Warning: this preview turns into an Iginla rant for a short while. I’m only a little bit sorry about that.

The Providence Bruins will look to get 2 points closer to clinching a playoff spot tonight as they take on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barres, PA. It will be the 2nd and time these two defensively-solid teams faceoff this regular season, although there is a good possibility they will see each other in the 1st round of the playoffs.

Providence is currently 5 points from clinching a spot in the playoffs as the season is in its final weeks. Tonight will be game 66 in a 76-game season for the P-Bruins, who are, as of right now, the only team in the AHL to hit the 40-win milestone. Despite that, they sit in 3rd place in the Eastern Conference and 4th in the AHL with 85 points. They are comfortably atop the division, however, with a 10-point cushion on 2nd place Portland. Their current record is 40-20-0-5.

The Penguins are 35-28-2-1, which is 3rd in their division (the East division), and 7th in the Eastern Conference. In 66 games, they have 73 points – only 2 ahead of the Hershey Bears, a divisional rival nipping at their heels.

The Penguins are a defensively solid team with a little trouble scoring goals. They have an even goal differential with 155 goals scored and 155 goals given up. They have one of the best penalty kills in the league, and give up the fewest goals per game, but also score the fewest goals per game as well. Here are how the teams match-up:

• Last 10: Providence is 8-2-0-0; WBS is 6-4-0-0
• Goal differential: Providence is +22; WBS is 0
• At home, WBS is 17-13-2-1; Away, Providence is 17-11-0-2
• Against the East division, Providence is 2-0-1; Against the Atlantic division, WBS is 2-0-1
• PP: Providence is 7th (18.9%); WBS is 25th (14.2%)
• PK: WBS is 2nd (86.9%); Providence is 7th (84.9%)
• Goals Per Game: Providence is 15th with 2.88; WBS is 28th with 2.35
• Goals Against Per Game: Providence is 3rd with 2.54; WBS is 1st with 2.35
• Shots Per Game: Providence is 1st with 33.91; WBS is 18th with 29.83
• Shots Against Per Game: Providence is 7th with 28.71; WBS is 2nd with 26.00

In the only previous game between the two teams this season, Providence shutout the Penguins and won by a score of 2-0. Michael Hutchinson got the shutout in net, turning aside 20 shots. Jeff Zatkoff, one of the top goaltenders in the AHL who is currently unavailable for WBS, got the loss that night despite his splendid numbers on the season.

Ironically, Zatkoff and Hutchinson will both sit out tonight, as Hutchinson is still sidelined with an injury in which Adam Morrison is on recall for. Morrison will be on the bench to back-up Nicklas Svedberg tonight. Of the two P-Bruins that scored against the Penguins in the previous game this season, which was earlier this month, only one will appear tonight – Craig Cunningham, who was credited with the game-winning goal, will play while Graham Mink, who scored the games 2nd goal, will not play tonight. Both players scored last game as well (a 3-2 win on Wednesday over Portland). It is unclear why Mink is not playing.

Unfortunately the P-Bruins will be without two other top scorers: Ryan Spooner and Torey Krug. Spooner is a last minute scratch with an upper body injury. Krug is still on recall in Boston, along with Matt Bartkowski, who didn’t get traded. What a mess. Well, at least Alex Khokhlachev will play tonight. Hopefully he will get his first professional point.

Here’s another interesting fact: Mark Divver also commented that Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli would like to see if he could get Svedberg in to play a game or two for the Boston Bruins before the season ends. Don’t know how that will be possible with the busy schedule of the AHL and the playoffs but with the way they are treating the team like expendable pieces to sit around and stew while trades don’t happen and jerks choose WBS’s parent team in Pittsburgh to screw the Bruins organization over, I’m sure they will find a way.

No, I’m not mad about that at all. Go Bruins! (Sorry that wasn’t a very good preview…I totally had one ready, but then it all fell apart. Kind of like that Iginla trade.)

In summary, all you need to know going in to tonight you now know. Cunningham: hot hot hot. Also, Chad Kolarik, who played for the Connecticut Whale earlier this season, is a WBS Penguin now, so look out for him. Recently signed University of Minnesota-Duluth defenseman Chris Casto (ELC for Boston, ATO for Providence) will not play tonight, although he is expected to join Providence.

Brad Thiessen will probably get the start in net for the Penguins. Their other top scorers aside from Kolarik include Trevor Smith, Riley Kolzapfel, Paul Thompson, Beau Bennett, Brian Gibbons, and defensemen Dylan Reese and Brian Dumoulin.

As usual, special teams will be the difference – but especially in this case. With Spooner and Krug out, and Chris Bourque still injured, along with the Penguins great penalty kill, Providence could struggle to get the power play goals that usually give them the jump in their game or insurance goals they need to win games. Hopefully our other top scorers will come through – Carter Camper, Jamie Tardif, and Justin Florek, Kyle MacKinnon, and Max Sauve. Also, I’m looking at you David Warsofsky.

Pregaming: Providence @ Portland

Niklas Svedberg and his sweet Godfather mask will be back between the pipes tonight for Providence.

The Providence Bruins will meet divisional rival Portland Pirates for the 10th and final time in the regular season tonight when they face off in Portland, Maine. Portland spent much of the season atop the Atlantic division – the position that Providence now comfortably holds with an 8 point lead.

Team Numbers

• Providence (39-20-0-5) has 83 points in 64 games vs Portland’s (35-24-3-2) 75 points in 64 games.
• Providence sits 1st in the Atlantic, 3rd in the East, an 4th overall in the AHL; Portland is 2nd in the Atlantic, 5th in the East, and 10th overall in the league.
• Late 10: Providence is 7-2-0-1, Portland is 3-5-0-1.
• Providence is 17-11-0-2 at away games; Portland is 21-8-2-1 at home.
• Providence has 184 goals for and 163 goals against to Portland’s 189 goals for but 194 goals against.
• That’s a goal differential of +21 for Providence and -5 for Portland.
• Power Play: Providence is 8th in the AHL at 18.9%; Portland is 20th at 84.4%. Portland has let in a league-high 15 shorthanded goals-against; Providence has allowed 8.
• Penalty Kill: Providence is 9th in the AHL at 84.6%; Portland is 11th at 84.4%.

Goaltending

Niklas Svedberg will be getting the start after sitting out last weekend. He has a record of 30-7-2 with a GAA of 2.26 and .922 save %. Svedberg has started 7 of the previous 9 games against Portland this season and has a record of 4-2-1 so far with a 1.99 GAA and a .930 save %.

Mark Visentin will get the start in net for the Pirates. He has a record of 12-11-1, a 2.92 GAA, and .906 save %. Visentin has played 5 of the 9 games against Providence earlier this season, with 3 other goaltenders getting the start between the pipes previously for Portland. Visentin has fared with a record of 2-3-0 versus the P-Bruins this year with a 2.82 GAA and a .913 save % in 5 games.

Leading Scorers

Ryan Spooner will return to the Poovidence Bruins after a brief call-up to Boston. He remains the leading scorer for the P-Bruins with 45 points (12 goals, 33 assists). His points and assists totals place him 2nd in the AHL active rookies. He also has 14 assists on the power play, which is good for 3rd in the AHL among rookies.

Jamie Tardif is 2nd in scoring with 39 points (27 goals, 12 assists), followed by Carter Camper‘s 38 points (7 goals, 31 assists), and the streaking Craig Cunningham (37 points with 22 goals and 15 assists). Cunningham has scored 11 points in 9 games (8 goals, 3 assists), including 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) in the last 2 games.

Torey Krug is 5th in Providence scoring, and 1st in Providence defense scoring with 34 points (10 goals, 24 assists). This point total places him 3rd among AHL rookie d-men.

For the Portland Pirates, Alexandre Bolduc leads them in scoring with 47 points (22 goals, 24 assists), followed by Andy Miele (39 points – 14 goals, 25 assists) and their top rookie scorer, Chris Brown (36 points – 24 goals, 12 assists). Close behind is Chris Conner with 35 points (12 goals, 23 assists) and top defense scorer David Rundbland (8 goals, 24 assists for 32 points).

Head to Head Match Up

In the previous 9 meetings this season, Providence has won 5 in regulation, lost 3 in regulation, and lost 1 in a shootout (5-3-0-1). They have gone 2-2 in away games, with their last win in Portland coming on December 1st when they beat Portland 5-2. The most previous meeting between the 2 teams was a 7-1 victory in Providence. The last 4 meetings between the teams has seen at least 7 goals scored total, with 7-1, 6-3, 5-2, and 6-1 scores all coming out of games since January 25th. Each team has won 2 and lost 2 of those high-scoring affairs.

Spooner, Zach Trotman, Trent Whitfield, Camper, and Christian Hanson have each been credited with game-winning goals against Portland this season. Spooner also leads in points against the Pirates this year, netting 10 in 8 games (4 goals, 6 assists) and has a rating of +5. 5 other P-Bruins each have 7 points against Portland this year: Cunningham and Tardif (each with 4 goals, 3 assists), Krug (3 goals, 4 assists), Justin Florek (2 goals, 5 assists), and Hanson (2 G, 5 A).

On the flip side, Portland’s Jordan Szwarz, Phil Lane, and Brown have had game-winning goals against Providence. Rob Klinkhammer, who is up with the Phoenix Coyotes in the NHL, has by far the best record against Providence this season. Next in line is Jordan Martinook, who has 14 total points on the year, and 5 points in 6 games against Providence alone, as well as Brown, who has 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) in 7 games.

Roster Updates

Hanson, who hasn’t played since March 10th with a hand injury, is reportedly a “maybe” for tonight. Michael Hutchinson, on the other hand, will not dress as Svedberg’s back-up due to an upper-body injury. As a result, Adam Morrison was recalled from Utah of the ECHL earlier this week to fill in as Svedberg’s back-up.

The Bruins recently-signed Chris Casto, a defenseman fresh out of Minnesota-Duluth of the NCAA, is expected to join Providence, although it is not clear if he will play tonight.