Providence Seeks Season Series Split with Springfield

Kyle MacKinnon had a power play goal last night, and has 3 points in the last 2 games. After starting the season with limited ice time, he has emerged as an important role player while the P-Bruins struggle with injuries. The 25-year-old Providence College alum has 18 points (10 goals, 8 assists) for the Baby Bruins this season.

Tonight, the Springfield Falcons will host the Providence Bruins tonight at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, MA in the Falcons’ “Pink in the Rink” night. The Falcons are 32-14-4-3 (71 points) in 53 games this season, which puts them atop the Northeast division and 2nd in the Eastern conference. The Providence Bruins are 32-18-0-4 (68 points) in 54 games this season, 1st in the Atlantic division and 3rd in the Eastern conference.

The P-Bruins are coming off an impressive come-from behind 3-1 victory over the Worcester Sharks last night, in which they scored 3 unanswered 3rd period goals, including a power play goal by Kyle MacKinnon, the game winner by Alden Hirschfeld, and the empty netter by Trent Whitfield.

Springfield is coming off a semi-double header yesterday against the Adirondack Phantoms in which they completed a game that had previously been suspended two weeks ago when Wade MacLeod suffered a seizure after being boarded during the 2nd period of the game. The 2 teams finished that game last night, then played another full game. Springfield won the resumption of the previously suspended game in a shootout by a score of 3-2, then destroyed the Phantoms in the 2nd game in a 7-2 victory. So although the Falcons may be tired coming off a game and a half played last night, they are riding high off winning 2 games in one night.

On the road, the P-Bruins are 15-10-0-1 this season. At home, the Falcons are 17-7-1-3. In the last 10 games, the P-Bruins are 7-2-0-1, and the Falcons are 6-3-1-0.

The P-Bruins have a +9 goal differential this season but Springfield is an impressive +45. The Falcons 129 total goals against this season is the 2nd fewest in the entire league, with the Wilkes-Barres/Scranton Penguins giving up 1 fewer (128). The Falcons PP is 7th in the AHL and the P-Bruins is 14th. On the PK, Springfield is 5th and Providence is 15th.

This will the 6th of 10 meetings between Providence and Springfield this season. The Falcons are leading the season series 3-2-0-0, with all games being decided in regulation. The Falcons have outscored the P-Bruins 15-12, including one shutout.

 

Image courtesy of Springfield Falcons.

The last time the teams met was on January 12th, when Springfield won 4-2 behind 2 goals from their leading scorer Jonathan Audy-Marchessault (17 goals, 34 assists = 51 points) and 23 saves from goaltender Allen York. Michael Hutchinson was in net for Providence, losing his 2nd game to Springfield in 2 starts against them this season.

Audy-Marchsessault of Springfield and MacKinnon of Providence both have a goal and 2 assists each in the last 2 games for their teams. 2/3 of Providence’s leading scorers will miss tonight’s game with injury: Ryan Spooner (10 goals, 28 assists = 38 points, 1st on team) and Carter Camper (6 goals, 29 assists = 35 points, 3rd on team) continue to be out of the lineup. Jamie Tardif, 2nd on the team in scoring (26 goals, 11 assists = 37 points), returned to the lineup last night and had an assist. Craig Cunningham is 4th in scoring for Providence (14 goals, 12 assists = 26 points) along with  defenseman and CCM/AHL Rookie of the Month Torey Krug (9 goals, 17 assists = 26 points).

League Leaders:

• Audy-Marchessault leads the AHL in assists with 34, and is tied for 3rd in points with 51.
  
• Tardif is 2nd in the AHL in power play goals with 12.
• Bobby Robins is tied for 2nd in minor penalties (36), major penalties (31), and penalty minutes (251).
• Dalton Smith of Springfield is 3rd in AHL rookies in penalty minutes (90) and tied for 2nd (10).
• Ryan Craig of Springfield is 4th in power play points in the AHL with 22, and 1st among active AHLers.
• Niklas Svedberg is tied for 1st in goaltender wins in the AHL with 26, and is 1st in AHL goaltender rookies in wins. Curtis McElhinney is 2nd with 22.
• McElhinney is 1st in shutouts with 7.
• Svedberg is tied for in shootout wins with 5.
• Svedberg’s 2.30 GAA is tied for 9th best in the AHL, while McElhinney is 14th 2.37.

Don’t Forget:

• Check out this Bobby Robins blog post from February 28.
• Today is Michael Hutchinson’s 22nd birthday. Happy Birthday to him!

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.

Pre All-Star Recap; Mink Signed, Hirschfeld Sent to SC, Trotman Skates

Graham Mink is no longer on a PTO. Providence signed him to an AHL contract on Monday. (Photo Credit: Steph Vail/Flickr)

The AHL All-Star break comes to an end tomorrow and the Providence Bruins will get back to work with only a few slight roster tweaks.

Prior to the All-Star break that began Sunday, Providence played on Friday, January 25th and Saturday, January 26th. On Friday, Providence beat the Portland Pirates 6-1. Defenseman Torey Krug had 2 goals. Kyle MacKinnon, Jamie Tardif, Max Sauve, and Carter Camper also scored for the P-Bruins. Niklas Svedberg made 28 saves between the pipes for the win.

On Saturday, Providence got another important divisional win when they beat the Worcester Sharks 4-3 in a shootout. Craig Cunningham, Tardif, and Justin Florek scored in regulation and Cunningham had the deciding goal in the shootout in the 7th round. Svedberg played for the 2nd night in a row and got his 2nd win in a row before appearing in his 1st All-Star Skills Competition on Sunday and All-Star Game on Monday.

Tardif, who joined Svedberg and Captain Trent Whitfield at the All-Star Classic in Providence, scored his 20th goal of the season on Saturday night. He leads the team in goals and points with 29. Carter Camper leads the team in assists with 19, overtaking Ryan Spooner this weekend, who has 18 assists on the season.

Jordan Caron joined the Providence Bruins line-up on Saturday for the 1st time since January 4th, when he suffered an upper body injury. He recorded 2 shots on net and was a -1.

On Monday, the Providence Bruins officially signed Graham Mink, who was on a Professional Tryout contract, to an AHL contract. Today, the P-Bruins also announced that they have sent forward Alden Hirschfeld back down to the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays. He spent 18 games with the P-Bruins this season thus far and recorded 5 points.

Another bit of positive news is that injured defenseman Zach Trotman, who has been out with a concussion for a few weeks, skated informally this morning. Mark Divver of the Providence Journal reports that although  Trotman is not yet cleared to play, he is likely to return next week. Before his injury, he was having a better-than-expected season for Providence, recording 2 goals, 10 assists, and a +5 rating.

Providence returns to action tomorrow night, Thursday, January 31st, at Bridgeport against the Sound Tigers. Providence currently sits 2nd in the Atlantic division with a 22-16-0-3 record (47 points).

Also: Happy 23rd Birthday to Max Sauve and Happy 21st Birthday to Ryan Spooner!

Providence vs Manchester, Round 8

Jamie Tardif leads Providence in goals and is tied with Ryan Spooner for the lead in points. He also turns 28 on Wednesday when the P-Bruins face the Monarchs! (Photo Credit: Steph Vail/Flickr)

On Wednesday evening, the Providence Bruins will face the Manchester Monarchs in New Hampshire for the 8th meeting between the Atlantic division rivals this season. Thus far, the P-Bruins have a 4-3-0-0 edge against the Monarchs, but lost 3-1 to the Monarchs in Manchester this past Saturday. They will meet a total of 12 times before the regular season ends. If they don’t hate each other yet, they will soon.

Providence (20-15-0-3) is 1 point behind 2nd-place Manchester (20-17-2-2) in the Atlantic division standings, although Manchester has played 3 more games than the P-Bruins. Providence is 6th in the East; Manchester is 5th.

Providence still struggles to score goals, with 95 goals scored to 104 goals scored against (-9), while Manchester has 118 goals fore and 109 against (+9). Providence also still struggles on the power play, ranking 22nd in the league at 14.9% to Manchester’s 16.6%, which is 14th in the league. On the penalty kill, the Bruins is 21st at 81.5% and Manchester is 16th at 82.4%. Providence also averages more penalty minutes per game at 18.1 to Manchester’s 14.1.

Manchester’s leading scorer, Linden Vey, has 9 goals and 26 assists for 35 points this season and against Providence this year, 1 goal, 1 assist, and a +3 rating. Second leading scorer Tyler Toffoli will not be in the line-up as he has joined the LA Kings. The next 3 leading scorers for Manchester are Brandon Kozun: 11 goals, 19 assists = 29 pts; 2 goals, 3 assists = 5 pts vs Providence; Tanner Perason: 10 goals, 17 assists = 27 pts; 1 goal, 1 assist = 2 pts vs Providence; and Andrei Loktionov: 7 goals, 15 assists = 22 pts; 2 goals, 2 assists = 4 pts, +3 vs Providence.

In comparison, Providence’s leading scorer (after Chris Bourque) is Jamie Tardif with 18 goals, 7 assists and 23 points and Ryan Spooner with 8 goals, 15 assists and 23 points. Tardif had the lone goal against Manchester last Saturday and has 3 goals against the Monarchs this season, plus 2 assists for 5 points, 13 penalty minutes, and a -3 rating. Spooner has 1 goal and 3 assists for 4 points against Manchester this year with a +1 rating.

Carter Camper is next on the list of leading scorers in Providence (4 goals, 16 assists = 20 points), and he has 1 goal and 3 assists against Manchester this year, but a frightening -5 rating. Craig Cunningham has 7 goals and 8 assists for 15 points on the season for Providence but only 1 goal and 1 assist against Manchester and a -3 rating. Kyle MacKinnon has 2 goals against Manchester this year, which accounts for 50% of his total goals scored this year.

In net, Manchester’s goaltenders have each suffered 2 losses to Providence, but Martin Jones has 2 wins to Peter Mannino‘s 1. In 3 games against Providence this year, Mannino is 1-2-0 with a GAA of 2.02 and save % of 0.949. Jones is 2-2-0 against Providence with 8 GA but a matching 2.02 GAA and a 0.917 save %.

Michael Hutchinson has gone 0-2-0 against Manchester this year with 5 GA, a GAA of 2.54 and 0.894 save %. Hutchinson’s overall numbers on the year are 4-9-1 with 39 GA, 2.79 GAA, and 0.896 save %. Niklas Svedberg is 4-1-0 with 10 GA, a 2.00 GAA and 0.932 save % versus the Monarchs this year. Svedberg is 16-6-2 this season with 58 GA, 1 shutout, 2.37 GAA, and 0.920 save %.

Providence is 9-8-0-0 on the road this season and Manchester is 11-10-2-1 at home. Providence is coming off of a win on Sunday against the Connecticut Whale, but are 4-5-0-0 in the last 10 games. Manchester is 6-4-0-0 in the last 10 and riding a 3-game winning streak despite losing a great majority of their roster to LA Kings training camp, and two long-time Monarchs to waivers (Thomas Hickey and Richard Clune).

Providence remains without Chris Bourque, who will likely stay with Boston for the season. Lane MacDermid will also remain with Boston as the 13th forward into the unforeseen future, but David Warsofsky returned to Providence on Sunday and had what The Providence Journal’s Mark Divver called one of his best games of the season. Two other players that returned from Boston Bruins training camp prior to last weekend – Ryan Spooner and Jamie Tardif – also had strong weekends, which showed on the scoring sheet as well. (Speaking of Jamie Tardif – he turns 28 tomorrow, January 23rd. Happy Birthday!)

Now that the NHL is back and guys actually have the hope to be called up to Boston driving them to play their best hockey, expect many Providence players to show a lot more heart. Guys like Lane MacDermid show that heart all the time, of course, which is why he is awesome and already made the Boston team. The Boston Bruins blueline is already falling victim to injury as Dennis Seidenberg sat out Monday’s win against Winnipeg; Aaron Johnson stepped in for him, but if another defensemen goes down, there are several options to call up from Providence. Although Torey Krug was not invited to camp, the Bruins have their eye on him. Then of course there is Matt Bartkowski, who was at camp, and Warsofsky could get called up again as well. This will all be dependent on how well they play in the immediate future in Providence.

Speaking of injury, Jordan Caron spent several days last week with Boston Bruins strength and conditioning coach before Boston practices. He is coming off of an upper-body injury (arm or shoulder) and according to Mark Divver (I know I cite him a lot, but he is seriously the best source for Providence Bruins news, period), Caron returned to practices with Providence today:

Jordan Caron, still wearing red no-contact jersey, on a line with Spooner and Cunningham this morning at 146 rink.

Coach Butch Cassidy says Caron may play this weekend; injured defenseman Garnet Exelby may also play this weekend. Colby Cohen and Zach Trotman, 2 other injured Providence d-men, are still sidelined indefinitely.

The P-Bruins play this weekend on Friday and Saturday before taking a break for All-Star Game festivities that will take place at The Dunkin Donuts center in Providence on Sunday and Monday. The puck drops at 7pm tomorrow night between the Monarchs and P-Bruins in Manchester, and tickets can still be purchased here. Meanwhile, All-Star balloting for the starting roster is also taking place, so make sure you vote for Trent Whitfield!

Providence Finishes Weekend With a Win

David Warsofsky was sent back down to Providence, but undoubtedly will get another shot with Boston in the future. (Photo Credit: Steph Vail/Flickr)

It’s been a tough couple of weeks for the Boston Bruins AHL affiliate – when the NHL lockout ended, they lost their top scorers and defensemen to NHL training camp. When training camp ended, Boston kept Providence’s leading scorer, Chris Bourque, along with another vital team leader and forward Lane MacDermid. Boston also kept defensemen David Warsofsky, at least up until Sunday, when they sent him back down to Providence after recalling defensemen Aaron Johnson, who had been sent down to Providence on a conditioning stint for a few days.

In his 2 games with the P-Bruins on Friday and Saturday, Johnson was a -1 with 1 assist on a Spooner power play goal Friday. Providence lost both games, a 3-2 shootout loss to the Portland Pirates on Friday and a 3-1 loss to the Manchester Monarchs on Saturday. Today, however, Warsofsky was back in the lineup with Johnson back in Boston, and the Providence Bruins came away with a 4-1 victory over the Connecticut Whale.

Warsofsky was the #1 star. He had the game-winning goal, an assist, a +2 rating, and 4 shots on net. Warsofsky’s goal was his 3rd of the season in the AHL, and assisted by Ryan Spooner and Matt Bartkowski. The goal came at 17:57 of the 1st period.

The Connecticut Whale opened up the scoring in the 1st period at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence on Sunday with a goal by JT Miller at 4:26 of the 1st period. It was Miller’s 7th of the season, assisted by Brandon Mashinter. Jamie Tardif tied the game at 1 at 16:23 of the 1st on his team-leading 18th goal of the year from Spooner and Justin Florek. Tardif and Spooner were sent back down to Providence from Boston training camp on Friday, and on Sunday Tardif earned the #3 star while Spooner earned the #2 star.

In the 2nd period against Connecitcut, Carter Camper got his 4th of the season, a PP goal, from Warsofsky and Florek at 7:34. In the 3rd, Kyle MacKinnon secured a 4-1 lead with a goal at 14:49. It was also his 4th of the season, assisted by Graham Mink and Christian Hanson. Providence outshot the Whale 38-15 in the end.

A big part of this game was the physical play as each team racked up dozens of roughing minors and fighting majors. The 4 players for Providence that received fighting majors were Bobby Robins, Tyler Randell, Ryan Button, and Tommy Cross; for Connecticut, it was Chris Bourque’s little brother Ryan Bourque, Sam Klassen, Jason Wilson, and Dylan McIlrath.

Sunday’s 4-1 win was an important positive note to end an otherwise tough weekend on. The 3-2 shootout loss on Friday came despite out-shooting Portland 39-21. Spooner and Robins (his 2nd of the season) scored for Providence, and Darian Dziurzynski had both regulation goals for Portland. In the shootout, only Spooner and Camper converted for Providence, while Chris Conner, Ethan Werek, and Jordan Szwarz converted for Portland for the win.

On Saturday night, things did not get any easier for Providence as they were handed a tough loss at the hands of the Manchester Monarchs. They out-shot Manchester 46-47 and went 0-for-8 on the power play. Tardif scored late in the 3rd period (assisted from Camper and Florek) to make it 2-1, but soon after that, Stefan Legein sealed the Monarchs win with an empty net goal.

Niklas Svedberg got the win today and the shoot-out loss on Saturday, and Michael Hutchinson got the loss on Saturday. Svedberg was particularly big in net to preserve the lead against Connecticut today. Providence faces Manchester again this Wednesday in Manchester for a rare weekday game. Providence is now 20-15-0-3 with today’s win, giving them 43 points, lead-frogging Worcester for 3rd place in the Atlantic division. However, Manchester (20-17-2-2) won again today, giving them 44 points and the 2nd place spot in the division. The Pirates remain in first with 50 points.

Providence found it’s scoring touch with a 4-1 win today and hopefully that will carry into Wednesday, because it isn’t likely they will get their leading scorer in Bourque back anytime soon. Their top scorers found ways to score this weekend – Spooner, Tardif, and more importantly, guys who needed to score who hadn’t been, such as Camper. Craig Cunningham has also stepped up the scoring recently, and look for him to continue to do so. Wednesday’s game against Manchester will be a big one as the two rivals continue to battle for playoff positioning in the division and conference.

The win on Sunday marks the 20th win of the season for Providence. “To get 20 wins in the 1st half of the year…is pretty good The guys should be proud of themselves,” said Coach Butch Cassidy after the game.

Bruins Scrimmage Bruins and Bruins Win

Dougie Hamilton (53) attempts defensive zone coverage on the penalty kill with Jamie Tardif parked in front of the net, where he has scored the most goals and power play goals for Providence in the AHL this season before getting called up to Boston training camp (Photo Credit: Steph Vail/Flickr)

Boston, Providence, who cares? We are all Bruins.

Some people were upset that the “real” Bruins lost, but I don’t know where you’ve been the past 5 months because I’ve been in Providence watching the only “real” Bruins available to see play and they’re pretty awesome. And I am glad they won tonight, because they worked hard and it was adorable.

And also, because they are all Bruins! With the exception of 2 players on Providence that do not have contracts with the Boston Bruins (Bobby Robins and Kyle MacKinnon), every single player who played in the Black and Gold Scrimmage tonight is either on the Boston Bruins current team, in their training camp, or will be a part of their future.

Allow me to provide a quick recap for those who did not have the pleasure of experiencing the scrimmage in person at the TD Garden or watching it online live.

Providence Finished the Weekend With a Win; Scrimmages Boston Tuesday

Graham Mink’s game winning goal going in the net on Sunday afternoon (Photo Credit: Steph Vail/Flickr)

On Friday night, Graham Mink was putting his son to bed when he got a call from his agent about an offer from the Providence Bruins to join the team on a Professional Tryout Contract. 2 days later, he scored the game-winning goal for the P-Bruins to give them a 2-1 win over the Manchester Monarchs, finally breaking the deadlock in the stands between the 2 Atlantic division rivals.

Mink’s goal came on the power play and broke a 1-1 tie in the 3rd period. Craig Cunningham scored just 58 seconds into the game to give Providence a 1-0 lead. It was Cunningham’s 7th of the season and came unassisted. The P-Bruins out-shot the outmatched Monarchs 13-10 in the 1st period, but goaltender Peter Mannino played well for the Los Angeles Kings farm team. Manchester came into the game with only 15 skaters dressed (rather than the usual 18) due to sudden call-ups to the LA Kings training camp. Although Providence also saw it’s roster recently depleted with its best players due to call-ups to Boston for training camp – as well as devastating injury, of which they lost 2 more players on Friday (Jared Knight and Zach Trotman) and at least one more on Sunday (Justin Florek took a puck to the ear) – recent call-ups from ECHL teams and a few new signings such as Mink filled out Providence’s roster coming into Sunday.

The 2nd period saw shots even up at 12-12 apiece, and with 9 seconds left in the period, Brandon Kozun tied the game at 1 for the Monarchs with his 10th of the season from Linden Vey and Bryan Rodney. Providence took control again in the 3rd period, out-shooting Manchester 16-3 (for a total of 41-25 in the game), and on one of many power play chances in the game, were able to capitalize when Mink deflected in a pass from Max Sauve, with a secondary assist to Carter Camper. Also of note – Camper had 10 shots on net in the game on Sunday, although he was poor in the face off circle. In the absence of the team’s tops players to Boston training camp, Camper and Cunningham have seen significant increase in ice time. Cunningham has been playing extremely well, although Camper seems to be struggling at times as he has ever since he returns from injury earlier this season.

Niklas Svedberg made a couple key saves in the final minutes of the game as Providence was able to hold on to the 2-1 lead and rebound from an embarrassing 4-1 loss on Saturday night to the Springfield Falcons.

Providence is now 19-14-0-2 (40 points), placing them 3rd in the Atlantic division – 2 points ahead of Manchester (17-16-2-2) and just 1 point behind Worcester (19-15-1-2). Providence is also 4-2-0-0 against Manchester this season, and will face them 6 more times before the season ends. The next meeting is Saturday, January 19th in Manchester.

But the next “game” for Providence is tomorrow night – Tuesday, January 15th. The team will travel to Boston to scrimmage the Boston Bruins at the TD Garden in front of a sold out crowd. Chris Bourque, Ryan Spooner, Jamie Tardif, Lane MacDermid, David Warsofsky, and Matt Bartkowski will suit up for Boston (presumably). As for Providence?

I’m told that pretty much every healthy Prov. player under contract w/Boston will play in Tuesday night Garden scrimmage . . .Robins & MacKinnon, who are on AHL deals will play, too. Mink (PTO) and Randell will not play. (Mark Divver, The Providence Journal.)

Bobby Robins and Kyle MacKinnon, although they do not have contracts with the Boston Bruins organization – only with Providence in the AHL – will play for Providence against Boston tomorrow night. However, since Mink is still on a Professional Tryout Contract, he will not play.

If you aren’t able to make it to the game in Boston tomorrow, it will be streamed online for free. Make sure to tune in because there’s nothing better than watching Boston and Providence at the same time…even if Providence is sure to get their butts kicked.

Chris Bourque was placed on a line with Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley while Lane MacDermid, Ryan Spooner, Jamie Tardif, and Jay Pandolfo wore green jerseys and split duties on a 5th line. (Photo Credit: Steph Vail/Flickr).

Speaking of which – I went to training camp on Sunday before swinging down to Providence for the P-Bruins game (see training camp pictures here, P-Bruins game pictures here). Chris Bourque was the only forward call-up from Providence who already had a spot on the forward lines – right on the wing of the 3rd line with Rich Peverley and Chris Kelly (just like I have been saying). He also has been practicing on the power play unit with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron. I would say it’s almost a sure thing that he will be the guy that stays with Boston out of training camp. But I guess we will have a better idea about where everyone stands after tomorrow’s scrimmage. Or maybe not. Maybe we will just be thoroughly entertained!

Providence Profiles: Kyle MacKinnon

Calle Riddewall and Kyle MacKinnon (right) (Credit:Flickr/goaliej54)

I take special pride in writing about Hockey East players that make it into the Boston Bruins system and Kyle MacKinnon is one of those guys. MacKinnon spent his Hockey East days playing for the Providence College Friars before being signed by the Providence Bruins in July.

Before the P-Bruins, MacKinnon led the Friars in goals scored his Junior and Senior years playing. During his senior year,  MacKinnon as co-captain totalled 14 goals and finished second with 23 points. He finished his career at Providence College with 71 points on 37 goals and 34 assists.

Besides doing really well in college hockey, MacKinnon was named to the Hockey East All-Academic team for all for seasons. So not only can he score on ice, but he can score when it comes to getting A’s? Now that’s the kind of guy we want playing for us.

This season for the Providence Bruins, MacKinnon has played in 24 games so far, registering 3 goals and 6 assists. He is currently in his third season for the P-Bruins and I have a feeling he will have many more to come.

So as you know by now I love posting videos to go along with these profiles so you can get a sense of what kind of player these guys are.

Like this video for instance, MacKinnon being 5’11” and 185 isn’t exactly the biggest player out there. But he can throw down and fight if necessary:

Oh and did I mention before he can score?

Before the Friars, MacKinnon played for the Chilliwack Chiefs in the BCHL which is where he scored that goal.

You can look forward to a new Providence Profile every Monday right here at A Cup A Bruin!