Jordan Caron Assigned To Providence

Jordan Caron(Credit:Bridget Samuels/Flickr)

Today the Boston Bruins announced that they have reassigned forward Jordan Caron to the Providence Bruins.  The reassignment is likely due to the anticipation of Patrice Bergeron returning to the lineup, Brad Marchand being cleared for contact and the welcoming of Swedish player Carl Soderberg.

Jordan Caron has had a rocky season, but has been a pivotal piece to the Bruins puzzle in the absence of Bergeron and Marchand. He suited up with Boston for 17 games this season after returning from injury and managed to post a goal and two assists.

Prior to his time in Boston, he began this season with the Providence Bruins, starring in 44 games.  With the minor league affiliate he notched 10 goals, 5 assists and 38 penalty minutes.

Throughout his career in Boston Caron has suited up for 71 games recording 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points.

Two U’s, Two K’s, Two Much Needed Points

There was one thing on the Boston Bruins minds tonight when they took on the Toronto Maple Leafs: revenge. With 18 games remaining in the Bruins season, every game is equally important. Especially when riding the coattails of the first place team (Montreal Canadiens).

Tonight the Bruins had a chance to take two points at home and tie for the Northeast division title. Obviously taking two points away from a fellow Northeast division team is important but tonight they’re looking to take them from a team that beat them Saturday night.  In net would be Tuukka Rask  against James Reimer. Rask was put into the game on Saturday after Anton Khudobin was pulled but there’s no doubt that he’ll be ready to go.

Bergeron would get the shoot out win! (Credit: Flickr/ Slidingsideways)

The first period was scoreless so the second period both teams looked to get on the board fast. Unfortunately it was the Maple Leafs who would draw the first goal. It would be a power play goal due to a “interference” call on Aaron Johnson. Quotes were needed for that one because that call was very so so if you ask me. Anyway Joffery Lupul in his first game back from suspension would get his fourth of the year. Within the 12 minute mark, the Leafs would go up 2-0 on a breakaway goal from Nikolai Kulemin.  With 9:49 to go Milan Lucic would score his first goal in 16 games, with the assists going to Rich Peverley and Jordan Caron.

We entered the third with the Maple Leafs up by 1 and it would stay that way for a bit. That is until Patrice Bergeron got the puck off of assists from Dougie Hamilton and Brad Marchand at 10:36. And now friend we would have a tied game. As the game went on so did the physicality, mostly after whistles. Most notably was a scrum that would result in a four-on-four with Andrew Ference and Dion Phaneuf.  Regulation would end in a tie.

Overtime would come and go with both teams getting their chances. The game would come down to a shoot out. At this moment I am proud of the B’s for coming back and tying up the game. We’ve been waiting for the slump to end and I think  this game served as a wake up call.

Here’s how the shootout went:
Tyler Seguin : SCORES!
Tyler Bozak : SCORES!
Patrice Bergeron : SCORES!
Nzaem Kadri : MISS
Brad Marchand : MISS
Nikolai Kulemin : MISS

BRUINS WIN!!! Boston is now tied for first in the Northeast division with the Canadiens, which coincidentally is who they will play next.

P.S: thank you Jack Edwards for that beauty of a title!

Caron Called Up; Bourque Clears Waivers

Jordan Caron has been re-called by the Boston Bruins. His disappointing season in Providence has shown great improvement in the last few weeks. He already has 71 NHL games under his belt and will probably be far less criticized than Chris Bourque was in the 3rd line role.

Chris Bourque was placed on waivers yesterday for the purpose of being assigned to the Providence Bruins of the AHL. It was announced today that he has cleared waivers, and he will join the Providence Bruins lineup tonight as they host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Although Bourque has not played for Providence in over 2 months – his last game was January 6th – he is 5th on the P-Bruins in scoring with 28 points.

Jordan Caron, meanwhile, has been called up from Providence and joined the Boston Bruins team this afternoon for practice in Wilmington. Caron has had a tough season in Providence, totaling 15 points and a -6 in 44 games played. However, in the last 9 games with the P-Bruins, Caron has 7 points with 4 goals and 3 assists. He reached the 10-goal mark last weekend.

Caron was drafted by the Bruins in 2009, with the 25th overall pick in the 1st round. He joined the team as a rookie in the 2010-11 season and recorded 7 points in 23 games. He has a total of 71 NHL games and 22 points. He finished last season with the team, playing 2 playoff games.

Caron is expected to join the 3rd line with Rich Peverley and Chris Kelly.

Chris Bourque on Waivers

Chris Bourque’s reaction when he found out he was placed on waivers, probably.

The Boston Bruins have assigned Chris Bourque to the Providence Bruins of the AHL, which means they have placed him on waivers. Bourque must clear waivers, which he will be on until noon tomorrow, before he can return to Providence.

Will another team claim Bourque while he is on the waiver wire? Let’s hope not. He is a strong asset to Providence. It’s no secret the Bourque is one of the best players in the AHL the past few years, and it has been unfortunate that the skill does not translate when he plays in the NHL. However, the Providence Bruins are in a strong spot to make a run for the AHL’s championship, the Calder Cup, and Bourque will undoubtedly strengthen the teams chances.

Bourque currently has a 2-way contract that turns into a 1-way contract next season. There is always a chance he will be called up to Boston in the future (if he clears waivers) if necessary. For now, he is replaced in the lineup by Jay Pandolfo on the 3rd line. Don’t expect that to be permanent. Lane MacDermid is also still with the Boston team (because he is awesome). He will hopefully get a chance to play in more NHL games soon.

If the Bruins need to call up others from Providence, my money is currently on Ryan Spooner – although he is only 1 game back from injury and is still a young player who will benefit from further development in the AHL. Jordan Caron, after being re-energized on the Buzz Saw line with Bobby Robins and Christian Hanson, may move to the top of the call-up list if he can continue to improve and move away from the earlier abysmal AHL season he has had.

This weekend, the P-Bruins games will be important for all the players looking to prove they want to and deserve to play with the Big Club.

In other news, Garnet Exelby was suspended for 1 game by the AHL for a boarding call in last Sunday’s game. He will miss tomorrow night’s game against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in Providence.

Cunningham Hat-Trick Highlights P-Bruins 7-1 Win

Craig Cunningham may not be on a lot of Boston fan radars, but his hat-trick on Sunday afternoon and team 2nd-best 17 goals show what an exciting young prospect this 22-year-old BC-native (drafted in 2010, 4th round, by the Bruins) is turning out to be.

The Providence Bruins went 2-0-0-1 this weekend, improving their overall record to 33-18-0-5 (71 points) in 56 games this season. They sit atop the Atlantic division and currently sit 3rd in the Eastern conference.

With less than 20 games left in the season, the P-Bruins are poised to make their first playoff appearance since the 2008-2009 season. That season, they finished 43-29-2-6 (94 points), 2nd in the division at the time. In the 1st round, they defeated the Portland Pirates 4 games to 1, then defeated the Worcester Sharks 4 games to 2 in the 2nd round. In the 3rd round – the Conference Finals – they lost 4 games to 1 to the Hershey Bears, who went on to win the Calder Cup in the next round. Were the playoffs to start today, the P-Bruins would face Hershey in the 1st round.

Some notable players on that 2009 P-Bruins team that went to the Eastern Conference finals include current Boston Bruins Brad Marchand, Johnny Boychuk, Adam McQuaid, and Tuukka Rask – all of whom played in all 16 games of the postseason. That should give you a pretty good idea of 1. Why the AHL is important and successful in developing players and 2. How potentially good the P-Bruins team is this year and definitely how good the potential of the prospects on the team are.

After defeating the Worcester Sharks 3-1 in Friday night, the P-Bruins followed up with an unfortunate 2-1 shootout loss to the Springfield Falcons. They rebounded Sunday with a 7-1 win over the Portland Pirates, a team they needed to beat in order to maintain first place in the division.

Jordan Caron scored the lone goal for the P-Bruins in Saturday’s loss, sparked by being placed on the Buzz Saw line in the spot previously filled by Lane MacDermid. His Buzz Saw linemates, Christian Hanson and Bobby Robins, had the assists on Caron’s 9th of the season. Placing Caron on this line was a much needed spark for the struggling winger, who many thought would be a shoe-in for the open 3rd line spot in Boston this season. The positive results continued for Caron – and the P-Bruins whole team – into Sunday’s victory.

Ryan Spooner returned to the lineup on Sunday after missing a handful of games with a lower body injury. He has 2 assists, 1 shot, and a +1 rating. The P-Bruins top scorer was far from their top scorers Sunday, however, as many P-Bruins recorded multi-point games and even multi-goal games. Justin Florek had a 4 point night (2 goals, 2 assists) and Craig Cunningham, a former Vancouver Giant of the WHL (fun fact: he won the Memorial Cup with Milan Lucic), recorded a hat-trick.

Hanson scored a shorthanded goal, as well as the primary assist on Caron’s goal. In total, 11 different P-Bruins recorded at least one point: Florek, Cunningham, Hanson, Spooner, Caron, Kevan Miller, Matt Bartkowski, Tommy Cross, Bobby Robins, Alden Hirschfeld, and Kyle MacKinnon. In net, Niklas Svedberg made 29 saves on 30 shots, recording his 27th victory of the season.

Justin Florek opened the scoring at 7:23 of the 1st period when he beat Portland goaltender Mike Lee. Florek’s 6th goal of the season was assisted by Miller and Bartkowski. At 18:27 of the 1st, Providence struck again on the shorthand with Bartkowski in the penalty box. Christian Hanson converted on the shorthanded opportunity for his 8th goal of the season.

2:20 into the 2nd period, Cunningham scored his 1st of the night and 15th of the season on the power play, assisted by Spooner and Cross. Providence went 1-for-5 on the PP.

Portland struck next bringing the score 3-1 at 3:15 of the 2nd on Jordan Martinook‘s 5th of the season from Phil Lane and Chris Summers. Portland outshot Providence 15-7 in the 2nd period, but the score remained 3-1 going into the 3rd period.

Florek regained Providence’s 2-goal cushion at 4:31 of the 3rd period on his 2nd of the night and 7th of the season, assisted by Spooner (his 2nd of the night) and Robins. Cunningham made it a 5-1 lead at 7:53 with his 2nd of the night and 16th of the season, with an assist to Alden Hirschfeld.

Jordan Caron hit the 10-goal plateau at 13:17 of the 3rd period, getting assists from Hanson and Florek. With just over a minute left in the game, Cunningham completed the hat trick with his 3rd of the night and 17th of the season with helpers from MacKinnon and Florek – capping off Florek’s 4 point night as well.

Providence next plays on Friday, March 8th, at the Dunk against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Make sure to keep an eye out, because this team is potentially getting really awesome.

Baby Bruins Begin March with Exciting Win over Worcester

Alden Hirschfeld and Kyle MacKinnon stepped up big tonight, which is especially important in the absence of many key injured players. What great depth the Bruins have even in their farm system.

With the game knotted at 1-1 with less than three minutes left in regulation in Friday night’s match up between divisional rival Worcester Sharks and Providence Bruins at the Dunkin Donuts center in Providence, P-Bruins forward Alden Hirschfeld was in on the forecheck in the offensive zone against two Worcester Sharks defenders. His aggressive pursuit of the puck caused a turnover, and he made no mistake when he rushed in on Worcester goaltender Alex Stalock, netting his 3rd goal of the season and the eventual game-winner at 17:33 of the 3rd period to give the P-Bruins their first lead of the game. Trent Whitfield added an empty-net goal 90 seconds later to secure the 3-1 victory, halting the P-Bruins 2-game losing streak and giving them a proper start to the month of March.

The victory also carried on the impressive streak of rookie goaltender Niklas Svedberg, who had a 10-game winning streak come to an end on Tuesday against Portland: Svedberg has not lost 2 games in a row in regulation this season, at all. Svedberg made 18 saves on 19 shots and picked up his 26th win of the season as Providence improved to 32-18-0-4 in 54 games this season – and 17-8-0-3 at home. Although they now sit in first place in the Atlantic division with 68 points, they have played one more game than the Portland Pirates, who sit in 2nd place with 66 points in 53 games.

The game remained scoreless until the final minute of the 2nd period, when Worcester’s Marek Viedensky beat Svedberg on a shorthanded opportunity with his 2nd goal of the season (unassisted, at 19:15 of the 2nd).

Providence’s power play seemed to be suffering heavily, and even failed at a 5-on-3 earlier in the game, but were given yet another 5-on-3 in the 3rd period when Nick Petrecki joined Brodie Reid in the penalty box about halfway through the final period. Reid’s cross-checking minor expired, but Providence kept pressure on with the remaining time in the man-advantage. Craig Cunningham sent a pass to Jamie Tardif, who in turn gave a beautiful set up to Kyle MacKinnon. MacKinnon’s 10th goal of the season, a power play goal, came at 12:53 of the 3rd period and tied the game at 1-1.

After Hirschfeld’s brilliant goal that gave Providence the go-ahead goal late in the game was assisted by Garnet Exelby, who picked up another assist on Whitfield’s empty net goal. Whitfield’s goal may involved a great individual spin-around effort to hit the open net and earn his 5th of the season at 19:02 of the 3rd period, with the secondary assist to Exelby and the primary assist to Christian Hanson.

Notes:

• The games three stars were: (3) Alex Stalock; (2) Craig Cunningham; (1) Alden Hirschfeld.
• Providence out-shot Worcester 23-19.
• Providence was successful in killing off all 4 of Worcester’s power play opportunities, and although they were 1-for-6 on the power play, they also gave up a shorthanded goal.
• Bobby Robins picked up his AHL-leading 31st major penalty of the season.
• Jordan Caron had 2 clear breakaway opportunities, and was stopped by Stalock on both. He was a -1 on the night.
• This was the 10th of 12 meetings this season between Worcester and Providence. Providence now leads the season series 5-3-0-2, including the last 4 wins in a row.
• Tardif returned tonight for the first time since February 17th, when he suffered a back injury.
• The P-Bruins are plagued by injury. They are currently without forwards Ryan Spooner (lower body), Carter Camper (upper body), Max Sauve (knee), and Jared Knight (still; hamstring, again/still); and defensemen Zach Trotman (recurrent concussion symptoms), David Warsofsky (knee), and Ryan Button, (lower body). Camper and Trotman are hopeful to return next week.
• Torey Krug was named CCM/AHLRookie of the Month for February!!
• Providence faces off against the Springfield Falcons tomorrow night at 7pm in Springfield.

Baby Bruins Blank Admirals

Matt Bartkowski had 3 assists tonight, improving his point total in February to 9 (1 goal, 8 assists) and 19 on the season (3 goals, 16 assists). He also had a goal in the final seconds of the 1st period waved off. He earned 3rd star honors behind Graham Mink and Niklas Svedberg. (Photo Credit: Bridget Samuels/Flickr bridgetds)

The Providence Bruins have collected yet another win in their impressive streak through the month of February when they defeated the Norfolk Admirals 3-0 on Friday night at Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia. The win is the P-Bruins 5th in a row and makes them 8-1-0-0 in the month of February and 31-17-0-3 (65 points) overall on the season. Providence remains in control of the Atlantic division, now 3 points ahead of the 2nd place Portland Pirates, who did not play tonight.

Niklas Svedberg made 21 saves in net, earning his 3rd shutout of the season and extending his personal unbeaten streak to 10 games. The rookie goaltender also earned his 25th win of the season, placing him only 1 win behind Rochester Americans goaltender David Leggio (who played tonight and lost) for 1st place in wins by AHL goaltenders this season.

On the opposite end of the rink, Admirals goaltender Igor Bobkov was pulled in the 2nd period after he gave up the 3rd goal of the game – a shorthanded goal to Trent Whitfield. Bobkov ended up surrendering 3 goals on 19 shots. Rookie goaltender Frederik Andersen finished the game without letting in any goals, making 13 saves.

Providence took 2 early penalties – hooking on Colby Cohen and tripping on Kyle MacKinnon – and successfully killed both off, thanks to Svedberg making a few brilliant saves. They then got their opportunity on the power play when Norfolk’s John Mitchell took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty at 14:40 of the 1st period. Providence wasted little time in drawing first blood.

The top star of the night was Providence forward Graham Mink, who had 2 power play goals. He scored his 1st on Providence’s 1st power play of the night when he deflected a shot from the point. It was his 4th goal of the season, with assists to Matt Bartkowski and Jordan Caron at 16:17 of the 1st period.

Providence went on the power play again with 2 seconds left in the 1st period when Brayden Irwin got a delay of game penalty. Coach Butch Cassidy opted to pull Svedberg with 2 seconds left and an offensive zone face-off, and although Bartkowski managed to score off the faceoff win, review of the goal determined that time on the clock had elapsed before the puck crossed the goal line.

Providence rebounded quickly at the start of the 2nd period, still on the power play when Mink scored his 2nd power play goal of the night to give Providence a 2-0 lead. This time, Mink was able to slam home the rebound of a Cohen shot from the point. Mink’s 5th goal of the season game at 0:46 of the 2nd and was assisted by Cohen and Bartkowski.

Mink was in the penalty box for the next goal, serving a bench minor for too many men at 8:02 of the 2nd period when Bartkowski – who had a brilliant game and earned 3rd star – sprung Whitfield up the left wing on a shorthanded bid that beat Bobkov. Whitfield’s 3rd goal of the season came at 8:07 of the 2nd and was assisted by Bartkowski, who picked up 3 assists total tonight.

Obviously with 2 power play goals and a shorthanded goal, specialty teams were the story of the game. Providence was 2-for-5 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill. Providence now improves to 13-for-50 on the power play in the month of February thus far (26%) and 31-for-33 on the penalty kill (93.9%). They have outscored their opponents 35-19 (+16 goal differential) this month as well, out-shooting them 283 to 251, including 32 to 21 tonight.

Whitfield led all skaters with 5 shots on net, followed by Mink with 4. Alden Hirschfeld, MacKinnon, and Ryan Spooner each had 3. Caron, who had 1 assist and 1 shot, was stopped on a breakaway in the 1st period.

These two teams meet again at the Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia tomorrow night with a 7:15 puck drop.

Pregaming: Providence at Norfolk

Torey Krug is a fantastic goal scorer and a hilarious fighter.

The Providence Bruins will face the Norfolk Admirals twice this weekend in Norfolk in the first meetings between the two teams this season. The 10-hour bus ride to Norfolk is the longest road trip of the P-Bruins season and the two games against the Admirals will be the only two the P-Bruins play this weekend.

Coming into tonight’s 7:30 puck drop, Providence remains in 1st place in the Atlantic division and 3rd place in the Eastern conference with a 30-17-0-3 record (63 points) in 50 games played. They are undefeated in the last 4 games, 9-1-0-0 in the last 10 games and 14-9-0-0 on the road this season.

Norfolk is in last place in the East division and 14th place in the Eastern conference with a 22-24-3-1 record(48 points)  in 50 games. The Admirals, who were the 2012 Calder Cup Champions, are 6-3-1-0 in the last 10, including 3-0-1-0 in the last 4 games, and 13-10-2-0 at home this season.

The Admirals are 23rd on the power play (14.5%), while the Bruins have improved vastly to 13th place (17.3%). On the penalty kill, Providence also ranks 13th (83.9%), one spot behind 12th-ranked Norfolk (84.5%).

Ryan Spooner leads the P-Bruins in points with 37 (10 goals, 27 assists). The next 2 leading scorers, Jamie Tardif and Carter Camper, did not make the road trip as they are out with upper body injuries along with Zach Trotman; Max Sauve and David Warsofsky are out with lower body injuries as well.

Due to the injuries, forward Alden Hirschfeld was recalled on loan from South Carolina and Nicolas Tremblay (Bakersfield) was signed to a PTO. (Providence Bruins)

The Admirals leading scorer is defenseman Sami Vatanen who has 4 goals and 23 assists for 27 points. Conversely, the P-Bruins leading scorer on defense is Torey Krug, who has 7 goals and 17 assists for 24 points, which places him 5th on the team behind forwards Spooner, Tardif, Camper, and Craig Cunningham.

Next on the list for the Admirals, whose NHL affiliate is the Anaheim Ducks, are forwards Emerson Etem (13 goals, 2 assists) and Devante Smith-Pelly (6 goals, 9 assists), each with 15 points.

In goal, Niklas Svedberg will get the start for the P-Bruins. Svedberg hasn’t lost in regulation since January 2nd and is on a 9 game winning streak. The rookie has a 24-6-2 record, 2.32 GAA, and .921 save %. He ranks 2nd in the AHL in wins. He has appeared in 33 games.

Norfolk’s goaltending is evenly split between Frederik Andersen and Igor Bobkov, who have each appeared in 24 games. Andersen, also a rookie, is 10-10-1, has a 2.28 GAA and .929 save %. Andersen ranks 4th in the AHL in save %. Bobkov 10-14-0 with a 3.05 GAA and .906 save %.

The P-Bruins will look to finish the month of February strong as they play their final weekend games tonight and tomorrow. They have had a wildly successful month of February thus far with a record of 7-1-0-0 and a goal differential of +13, holding their opponents to just 19 goals in 8 games. They play their final game of the month in Portland against the Pirates on the 26th.

Some more February tidbits (if I did my math correctly) are that, going into tonight, though 8 games in February the P-Bruins are 11-for-45 on the power play, which is a 24.4% success rate, and 28-for-30 on the penalty kill (93.3%). They have out-shot their opponents 251 to 230 in addition to outscoring them 31 to 19.

The leading scorers in February have been Camper (1 goal, 9 assists), Krug (2 goals, 8 assists), and Spooner (2 goals, 8 assists) with 10 points each, followed by Cunningham with 5 goals and 3 assists for 8 points, and Tardif (5 goals, 1 assist) and Matt Bartkowski (1 goal, 5 assists) with 6 points each. Kyle MacKinnon has recorded 4 goals and 1 assist for 5 points this month after recording only 10 points in the previous 4 months. Graham Mink has also recorded 5 points after his PTO became a permanent contract with the club (2 goals, 3 assists), and Jordan Caron has contributed 2 goals and 2 assists since returning from injury earlier this month.

In the previous 8 games this month, 12 different Providence Bruins have been named as one of the three stars of the game, including Mink, captain Trent Whitfield, Spooner, and Tardif. To be named 1st star of the game once apiece have been both goaltenders – Svedberg as well as Michael Hutchinson, as well as Camper, MacKinnon, Krug, and Caron. Caron was also named 3rd star in a  separate game, while Cunningham received 2nd star and 3rd star honors in separate games.

Spectacularly, Torey Krug has had a fantastic month despite his consecutive scoring streak coming to an end – he has been named a star of the game in 4 separate games, receiving 1st star honors and 3rd star honors once, and 2nd star honors twice. Although he got off to a slow start this season, Krug has truly shown that he is one of the future stars of the Bruins organization. Hopefully he can keep that going tonight in Norfolk with the rest of the shining Providence Bruins team.

Providence Wins 4th in a Row

Craig Cunningham’s 14th goal of the season was the game winner tonight and earned him the 2nd star in Providence’s 3-1 win over Worcester to wrap up a 3-0 weekend.

The Providence Bruins went undefeated this weekend and extended their winning streak to 4 games with a 3-1 win over divisional rival the Worcester Sharks this afternoon. With the win today, Providence remains in 1st place in the Atlantic division, clinging to a 1-point lead over the 2nd place Portland Pirates. The P-Bruins are now 30-17-0-3 this season.

Niklas Svedberg played in Friday and Saturday’s wins over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, extending his personal winning streak to 9 games. Today, Michael Hutchinson got the start in net for the P-Bruins and earned number one star honors with 32 saves on 33 shots.

Jordan Caron, who was named number one star in Friday night’s victory, was 3rd star in today’s win; Craig Cunningham was the 2nd star. Caron had a goal and an assist, while Cunningham had the game-winning goal.

Providence played today without one of their top scorers, Carter Camper, who was injured in the 2nd period of Saturday’s game.

Caron opened the scoring after Worcester’s Matt Tennyson went to the penalty box for goaltender interference at 7:41 of the 1st period. 9:31 into the period, Caron converted on the power play to record his 8th goal of the season with assists from Christian Hanson and Matt Bartkowski.

In the 2nd period, Providence again capitalized on the power play when Worcester’s Nick Petrecki was called for slashing at 15:48. Cunningham netted his 14th of the season on the man advantage at 16:45 of the 2nd from Tommy Cross and Graham Mink. Mink notably recorded his 500th career AHL point on Saturday night after playing in his 700th career AHL game on Friday night.

The Sharks cut the Bruins lead in half at 17:11 of the 3rd period on a goal by Yanni Gourde. Gourde’s 7th goal of the season was assisted by Jon Matsumoto and Danny Groulx.

The Bruins regained a 2-goal lead when captain Trent Whitfield buried an empty net goal in the final seconds of the game, solidifying a 3-1 victory. Whitfield’s 3rd goal of the season was assisted by Caron and Kevan Miller.

Providence was 2-for-5 on the power play today, and a perfect 6-for-6 on the penalty kill. They were out-shot 33 to 30 in the game.

Although Torey Krug‘s recent point streak ended this weekend, he recorded a team-high 3 shots on net, along with Colby Cohen.

The P-Bruins next play next Friday, February 22nd at the Norfolk Admirals.

Tardif and MacDermid Sent to Providence

Lane MacDermid was sent to Providence on a conditioning loan on Monday.

Jamie Tardif has been sent back down to the Providence Bruins after being called up to Boston on February 1st. Tardif played in 2 games for the Boston Bruins, which included his NHL debut at the age of 28.

Lane MacDermid has also been sent to Providence, but on a “conditioning loan” rather than on a permanent basis. He has played in 3 games for Boston this season. The timing of the conditioning loan coincides with 2 rare weekday games for the P-Bruins, who play tonight and tomorrow night in games that were originally scheduled for Friday and Saturday night but had to be postponed due to the snow. MacDermid will likely return to Boston after tomorrow’s game.

Tardif and MacDermid will both play for the P-Bruins tonight against the Portland Pirates in Providence. Jordan Caron will also return to the lineup after taking a puck to the face a few weeks ago. The winner of tonight’s game will gain 1st place in the Atlantic division.