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Providence Bruins

P-Bruins Week in Review

March 28, 2017 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Providence Bruins News Release


Providence, RI - A crucial road trip faced the Providence Bruins this weekend, and the team responded by sweeping their set of games to stay well in the midst of the playoff picture. It helped that two of those games were against the Hartford Wolf Pack, a team with the lowest point total in the AHL. After giving up an early goal, the P-Bruins scored three unanswered goals to take Friday's game 3-1. The team traveled to Albany Saturday, taking on the Devils for the last time on the road before the team relocates at the end of the season. Behind a four-goal second period, the Bruins won 5-0 and Dan Vladar earned his first pro shutout in net. Providence returned to Hartford again to conclude the weekend, and behind Alex Grant's first two-goal performance of the season the team beat the Wolf Pack 5-2.

Providence now sits third in both the Eastern Conference and Atlantic division at 39-19-5-4 with 87 points. They remain in good position to grab a playoff berth, but with only the top four teams from each division making the postseason they will need to play well down the stretch to maintain that spot. Fourth place Hershey also has 87 points (with one more game played) and fifth place Bridgeport is close behind with 82 points, so nothing is assured for Providence with nine games remaining.

Without leading scorer Jordan Szwarz, who missed his second consecutive weekend with a lower body injury, several different players made up for his absence. Overall Chris Porter was the team's leading scorer for the week with four points, including his first three-point performance of the season Sunday when he netted a goal and two assists. Grant led the team with three goals, but Peter Cehlarik added one in this week as well to push his team-best total up to 19. Youngsters Austin Czarnik and Jake DeBrusk chipped in three points as well, each with a multipoint game over the weekend.

Zane McIntyre earned two wins in net Friday and Sunday with an emergency recall to Boston sprinkled in Saturday. As he has done almost all season, McIntyre paces the AHL with a 1.99 GAA and a league best 93.2 save percentage. He stopped 44 of 47 shots over the weekend, an encouraging sign as he had hit a bit of a wall recently allowing three or more goals in four of five starts.

The roster saw a ton of movement, as each day of the week featured at least one move. The most notable came March 24 when Boston draft picks Ryan Fitzgerald and Emil Johansson each signed tryout agreements and made their North American pro debuts Saturday. Each player earned their first point Sunday assisting on Porter's goal. Vladar and former Brown hockey star Mark Naclerio each earned call-ups March 23 after extended stays with Atlanta of the ECHL. To make room, Ben Marshall and Justin Hickman were sent to Atlanta while Taylor Doherty was released from his PTO. Hickman rejoined Providence March 27. With McIntyre up on emergency recall and Malcolm Subban nursing an injury, Drew Fielding was signed to a tryout agreement to back up Vladar Saturday. Once McIntyre returned, Fielding was released.

The P-Bruins return to the Dunk Friday to close out March with their final matchup with the Albany Devils at 7:05pm. They begin April with a 7:05pm Saturday faceoff in Springfield before returning home Sunday at 3:05pm to take on the Wolf Pack for the third time in third time in six games.

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