Brunet's Late Goal Lifts P-Bruins Past Thunderbirds
Published on January 4, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Providence Bruins News Release
Providence, RI - Defenseman Frederic Brunet netted the game-winning goal with 1:11 to play to lift the Providence Bruins past the Springfield Thunderbirds 3-1 on Sunday evening at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. Forward Dans Locmelis recorded a goal and an assist. Riley Tufte scored on the empty net to seal the victory.
How It Happened
While on the power play, Matt Luff fired a wrist shot into the upper-left corner of the net to give the Thunderbirds a 1-0 lead with 15:28 remaining in the first period.
Georgii Merkulov slipped a feed towards the middle of the ice that Fabian Lysell redirected to Locmelis in the left circle, where he snuck a wrist shot into the back of the net for a power play goal to tie the game at 1-1 with 6:25 to play in the first frame.
Brunet's one-timer from the left point zipped inside the near post to give the P-Bruins a 2-1 lead with 1:11 left in the third period. Locmelis and Ty Gallagher were credited with assists.
Tufte scored on the empty net with 58 seconds remaining. Patrick Brown and Billy Sweezey received the assists.
Stats
Merkulov notched his 206th career point on his assist. He ranks second all-time in Providence Bruins scoring behind Andy Hilbert (2001-2005) with 210.
Locmelis has three goals in his last three games.
Goaltender Michael DiPietro stopped 16 of 17 shots faced. The P-Bruins totaled 35 shots.
The power play went 1-for-2 and the penalty kill was 2-for-3.
The P-Bruins improve to 23-6-1-0.
Up Next
The Providence Bruins host the Bridgeport Islanders on Friday, January 9 at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m.
Every minute of Bruins hockey can be watched online with the league's streaming service, AHLTV on FloHockey. AHLTV on FloHockey provides its subscribers access to not just every regular season and Calder Cup Playoff game for all 32 AHL teams, but also more than 21,000 hockey contests from other professional and junior leagues on FloHockey, as well as access to all other live event streams and replays across FloSports.
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