Bruins Trade Deadline Transactions

Welcome to trade deadline day for the NHL! While the Boston Bruins signed Jaromir Jagr earlier this week in exchange for Lane MacDermid not much else went down for the Black and Gold (I refuse to speak about the trade gone bad). But with today being the end of any sort of player trading, Peter Chiarelli and Co. cracked down and made some moves that’ll hopefully help with the B’s quest for the cup!

Welcome to Boston Wade! (Credit: Flickr/ CS Smith)

At one pm today it was confirmed that the Boston Bruins had traded Providence Bruins player Max Sauve to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Rob Flick. Flick has most recently been playing for the Blackhawks’ AHL affiliate the Rockford IceHogs. He has played in 51 games this season for the IceHogs and has registered three goals and two assists with 97 penalty minutes.

The London Ontario native was drafted in the fourth round (120th overall) of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks. While Flick hasn’t contributed much scoring wise, he’s 6-foot-2 and over 200 pounds and has no problem throwing his weight around. In his first two AHL seasons alone, he’s racked up over 100 PIMs.

Flick will most likely head to Providence for the next few years to build but there’s no doubt that he’ll most likely be there if the Bruins are looking for a call up.

In a late trade, the B’s also acquired defenseman Wade Redden from the St. Louis Blues  in exchange for a conditional seventh round draft pick in 2014. However, if Redden plays in one or more games during the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Bruins, that draft pick will change to a sixth round.

Redden is a former teammate of Captain Zdeno Chara and center Chris Kelly. He will serve as a strength defenseman that could come in handy as the Bruins head towards playoffs. This year, Redden appeared in 23 games with the Blues, scoring two goals and three assists with 11 penalty minutes. The 35-year-old has skated in 1017 NHL games between the  Ottawa Senators (1995-2008), New York Rangers (2008-2010) and the St. Louis Blues (2012-2013).

Overall it wasn’t the trade that’ll make headlines, but these are deals that could help the Bruins with the rest of this season  and in the future.

Hanson and Robins Lead P-Bruins to Victory Over Baby Penguins

Christian Hanson returned to the lineup after sitting out with injury since March 10th. He reinvigorated his linesmates, who accounted for all of the P-Bruins points in regulation and the shootout. He got the game-tying goal in the 3rd period and the game-winning goal in the 8th round of the shootout. He is awesome.

It’s been 7 games since Christian Hanson has played for the Providence Bruins, but he didn’t miss a step when he rejoined the lineup tonight in a 3-2 shootout victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Hanson had a goal to tie the game in the 3rd period, sending the game to a shootout, where his 8th round goal clinched win number 41 of the season for Providence.

The gritty BuzzSaw Line was happily reunited – Hanson, Bobby Robins, and Justin Florek – and provided all the scoring for the P-Bruins, who went 0-for-7 on the power play and gave up 2 power play goals to the Penguins. The team was shorthanded with a last minute scratch to leading scorer Ryan Spooner, and although Torey Krug was sent back to the AHL after practicing with Boston this morning, he was not able to join Providence in Wilkes-Barre in time. Without their top scorers in the lineup and the other top scorers invisible on the scoresheet, the BuzzSaw line got the job done.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton opened the scoring up at 13:15 of the 1st period on a power play goal from Dylan Reese, who netted his 7th goal of the season with Alex Khokhlachev sitting in the penalty box. Reese’s goal was assisted by Riley Holzapfel and Trevor Smith.

The Bruins tied the game up late in the 1st period on a goal from the most unlikely of sources – the excellent Bobby Robins. Robins got his 4th goal of the season at 18:37 of the 1st assisted by Florek.

The Penguins got a 5-on-3 power play opportunity in the latter half of the 2nd period when Robins was in the box serving a minor for charging and Garnet Exelby joined him with an interference penalty. Reese got his 2nd goal of the game with this 2-man advantage, his 8th goal of the season, assisted by Smith and Beau Bennett at 15:01 of the 2nd.

Hanson scored his 10th goal of the season to tie the game at 2 4:58 into the 3rd period, with an assist to Robins. Although Providence would get a full 2 minute 5-on-3 late in the 3rd period, they were unable to capitalize, and the game went to overtime.

Niklas Svedberg turned aside 4 shots in overtime, making his save total on the night 26 saves on 28 shots faced. Penguins goaltender Brad Thiessen made 26 saves on 28 shots as well. In the shootout, both goaltenders were perfect through 6 rounds. Thiessen stopped Bruins top scorers who failed to provide scoring all night – Craig Cunningham, Max Sauve, Jamie Tardif, Khokhlachev, Carter Camper, and Trent Whitfield.

Svedberg, too, stopped 6 shooters, but at the start of the 7th round, the Penguins’ Chris Collins beat Svedberg. Florek had to score to send the shootout to an 8th round. With one assist already on the night, and +2 rating and leading all skaters with 6 shots on net, Florek came up big with a goal in the shootout.

On to the 8th round, the Penguins put out shooter Adam Payerl. When he failed to beat Svedberg, Hanson was given the opportunity to clinch the win for Providence. And he did.

Robins was awarded 3rd star honors; Reese 2nd star; and Hanson was the 1st star in his 1st game back. He helped propel the Bruins to the top of the Eastern Conference, as the win – now giving them a record of 41-20-5 in 66 games – gives them 87 points. With a loss in overtime tonight, the Syracuse Crunch have 87 points as well, but have 1 more game played and 2 fewer wins. They are also tied with the Texas Stars for 1st place in the entire league. The Providence Bruins aren’t too shabby.

Svedberg’s win gives him 32 on the season – only 1 shy of the great record Tuukka Rask posted the last time Providence made the playoffs in 2008-2009. That year, Rask went 33-20-4. With 10 games left in the season, Svedberg is 32-7-2.

As the standings are right of this moment, the Providence Bruins would face the Hershey Bears in the 1st round of the playoffs. A good sense for how that playoff series might go can be seen tomorrow night when Providence takes on the Bears in Hershey for the 1st meeting between the two teams this season. This will be a must-see game, so consider going to the AHL website and checking out AHL live if you can’t physically be at the game. It’s gonna be a big game!

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 @ Worcester

Tonight is the final game between Providence and Worcester this season. Goaltender Harri Sateri will be getting his 7th start in a row and only his 3rd against Providence this season. Jamie Tardif looks to keep the P-Bruins successful power play rolling.

Providence faces off against the Worcester Sharks tonight in Worcester in the 12th and final meeting between the teams this season. Providence, looking to extend their current winning streak to 5 games (and win streak over Worcester to 6 straight) leads the season series 6-3-0-2, but all of the games have been nail-biters. 5 have gone to shootouts, with Providence having the 3-2 edge in shootouts. Their last meeting on March 9th in Worcester also ended in a shootout and Providence skated away with a 4-3 victory.

The P-Bruins have 63 of 76 games under their belts and have earned a 39-19-0-5 record thus far. They sit atop the Atlantic division, 2nd in the Eastern Conference, and 3rd in the AHL.

Worcester is coming off of a loss. They have played 60 games but only have 63 points with a 28-25-1-6 record, placing them 4th in the Atlantic division and 12th in the East. They sit 6 points out of the 8th and final playoff spot, which is currently occupied for the Hershey Bears, who have 69 points.

Read more after the cut!

Pregaming: Bridgeport @ Providence

Max Sauve has scored 3 goals in 4 games, which means 30% of his total goals scored this season have come in the last 4 games. He returned from injury on March 3 after missing 9 games. He has 1 goal and 2 assists in 3 games against Bridgeport this season. He is also from France (not relevant but fun fact).

The Providence Bruins look to extend their winning streak to 4 games tonight as they host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence. The P-Bruins hope to leave for their extended road trip on a positive note; after tonight’s home game, they will be on the road for the next 7 games, not returning to The Dunk until April 12th.

This is the 7th of 8 meetings between the 2 teams this season. Providence, after losing the first 2 games of the season series, has won the last 4, including sweeping a home-and-home on February 15th and 16th by a total score of 12-6 in 2 games.

Team Stats

• Providence is 1st in the Atlantic division, 2nd in the Eastern Conference, and 3rd in the AHL overall with a 38-19-0-5 record after 62 games.
• The Sound Tigers are fighting for their playoff lives with 15 games left in the season, currently sitting at 4th in the Northeast Division and 13th in the Eastern Conference. Bridgeport has a record of 26-25-6-4 in 61 games, but their 62 points is only 6 points behind 8th place Connecticut.
• Providence has a favorable home record (21-9-0-3), and the visiting Sound Tigers have a poor road record (11-17-3-1).
• Providence is 7-2-0-1 in the last 10; Bridgeport is 4-2-3-1.
• Power Play: Providence ranks 8th in the AHL (18.5%); Bridgeport is 13th (17.2%)
• Penalty Kill: Providence ranks 8th (84.9%); Bridgeport is 27th (80.3%)

Goaltending Match Up

• Hutchinon v Reiter

The starting goaltenders for both teams will have the night off as Bridgeport’s Rick DiPietro will miss the game due to illness and Niklas Svedberg will rest up for a game against Worcester tomorrow night. This means Michael Hutchinson will get the start in net for Providence. Hutchinson is 8-12-3 this season, posting a .911 save % and 2.38 GAA. He has 1 shutout. Hutchinson started 1 game against Bridgeport previously this year, which was the 1st game against the Sound Tigers back in October when the Bruins lost 4-2.

Starting in net for Bridgeport will be rookie Kenny Reiter. He has yet to post a win this season, going 0-4-1 with a .913 save % and 2.69 GAA.

Fresh Faces and Line Up Notes

Bridgeport announced the addition of 2 new players to the roster today with the signings of 2 forwards – Sean Wiles out of the ECHL’s Las Vegas Wranglers (to a PTO) and Joey Diamond out of the University Maine of the NCAA to an ATO.

Meanwhile, Alex Khokhlachev will make his much-anticipated professional debut for the Providence Bruins. He will center a line with Jamie Tardif and Kyle MacKinnon.

Unfortunately, Providence will be without top forwards Ryan Spooner (still on NHL callup, obviously), Chris Bourque (upper body), and Christian Hanson (hand). Tyler Randell and Jared Knight are also out with injuries, although Knight is optimistic about returning to the lineup soon. On defense, Colby Cohen and Tommy Cross will be healthy scratches.

Scoring Leaders

• Camper, Cunningham, Krug, Tardif
• DeFazio, Wishart; Niederreiter, Nelson, Donovan

In the season series between Providence and Bridgeport, Carter Camper has 7 points in 6 games. All 7 points are assists. Torey Krug has 6 points in 6 games (2 G, 4 A), and an uncharacteristic fighting major. Craig Cunningham has 5 goals in 6 games against the Sound Tigers.

Camper has 37 points this season (6 G, 31 A), 3rd on the team behind Spooner and Tardif. Camper has only appeared in 44 of the 62 games for Providence.

Cunningham is right behind Camper on the scoring sheet with 33 points (20 G, 13 A). Krug also has 33 points (9 G, 24 A).

Cunningham is the only player to appear in all 62 games for Providence this season.

Brandon DeFazio has 6 points against Providence in 6 games this season for Bridgeport (3 G, 3 A). Ty Wishart also has 6 points in 6 games (2 G, 4 A). Wishart only 15 points total on the season (4 G, 11 A), while DeFazio is only slightly better with 17 points (9 G, 8 A).

Bridgeport’s leading scorers are Nino Niederreiter, who has 26 G and 19 A for 45 points. Behind him is Brock Nelson (17 G, 25 A = 42 Pts), and defenseman Matt Donovan (9 G, 23 A = 32 pts).

Who & What to Look Out For

• Khokhlachev, Krug, Sauve
• Special teams

Aside from the obvious (Khokhlachev), Bruins fans should keep an eye out for Krug (as usual), who is on a 5 game point streak in which he has tallied 7 assists. Max Sauve has also gotten hot as of late after having a disappointing season – he has 3 goals in the last 4 games.

Tardif is returning to the lineup after missing 2 games with a brief injury. He and MacKinnon, who has 3 points in 3 games, should benefit greatly from having Khokhlachev as their centerman. Tardif still is one of the league leaders in PP goals, ranking 2nd in the AHL with 12.

Speaking of power play goals – did you notice the Bruins PP ranking climbing along with the PK? They have been fantastic the last few months on special teams. PP success usually dictates individual game success for the Bruins in this 2nd half of the season. In the last 10 games, they have had a PP of 26.3% – scoring 10 PP goals in 38 opportunities. They have gone only 2 games in that span without a PP goal, but have twice scored 2 PP goals in 1 game.

Their PK has also been unreal – they haven’t allowed a power play goal since February 26th! That’s 9 games with a PK success rate of 100% on 35 penaly kills. In the last 10 games, they have killed 38 of 39 – that’s 97%.

Hopefully they can keep up the great work against a desperate Sound Tigers team tonight.

P-Bruins Moving Up in the East; Fallstrom Debuts Today

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.

Providence Looks for 2nd Win in 2 Days vs Springfield

Chris Bourque had a goal in regulation and the only goal in the shootout in last night’s win over Springfield. He has had 5 points (1 G, 4 A) in 5 games versus the Falcons this season.

Recap: Providence 3, Springfield 2 (SO)

Providence gave up a 2-goal lead in the 3rd period but managed to get the 2 points in the shootout against the Springfield Falcons at the Dunkin Donuts Center on Friday night. Niklas Svedberg improved to 29-7-2 on the season and 7-2 in shootouts. Svedberg made 25 saves on 27 shots and stoned all 5 Falcons shooters in the shootout. Springfield goaltender Curtis McElhinney made 31 saves.

Chris Bourque scored the only goal in the shootout. He also scored the 2nd Providence goal of the night, putting the Bruins up 2-0 at 4:26 into the 2nd period. His 9th of the season came from Torey Krug and Matt Bartkowski. The goal came during 4-on-4 play. Justin Florek opened the scoring at 7:47 into the 1st period with his 8th of the season, assisted by Kyle MacKinnon and Bobby Robins.

Providence remained ahead by 2 until the final 5 minutes of the game, when Ryan Craig netted his 17th goal of the season, assisted by Trent Vogelhuber and Nathan Moon. Springfield then tied the game with the goaltender pulled for the extra attacker with 20 seconds left in the game. Ryan Russel got his 7th of the season from Nick Holden and Craig.

The 1 point for Springfield put them at 77 on the season as Providence moved into a tie for 2nd in the Eastern Conference, also with 77 points.

Preview: Providence @ Springfield, 7pm

The winner of tonight’s rematch, which will take place in Springfield, will move into sole possession of 2nd place in the Eastern Conference. The P-Bruins currently have a record of 13-19-0-5 to Springfield’s 24-16-5-4. Providence is 3-3-0-1 against Springfield thus far this season.

• Last 10: Providence is 6-2-0-2; Springfield 4-4-1-1
• Providence on the road: 16-10-0-2
• Springfield at home: 19-7-1-3
• Power Play: Springfield 18.9% (7th); Providence 18.1% (10th)
• Penalty Kill: Springfield 85.9% (4th); Providence 84.8% (9th)

Jamie Tardif and Tyler Randell, who both played last night, will sit out tonight. Tardif, who sustained a groin injury. was a -2 last night with 2 shots on net. Randell sustained a hand injury, perhaps during his fight against Dalton Smith halfway through the 3rd last night. Randell had had 7 fights in the last 8 games.

Michael Hutchinson, who didn’t dress last night due to a hip injury, is still questionable for tonight. Adam Morrison dressed as Svedberg’s back-up last night and has not played an AHL game yet this season.

Look out for Bourque tonight, who has 5 points in 5 games versus Springfield this season. Max Sauve also has 5 points against the Falcons this year, in 6 games. Jonathan Audy-Marchessault has 8 points (4 G, 4 A) in 7 games versus Providence this year. Nick Drazenovic also has 8 points in 6 games versus the Bruins this year (3 G, 5 A).

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.

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.