AHL Providence Bruins

Gordie Howe Hat-Trick from Fitzgerald Leads P-Bruins over Devils

Published on December 12, 2017 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Providence Bruins News Release


Providence, RI - The Providence Bruins defeated the Binghamton Devils 3-2 in the first of back-to-back home games against the team. The P-Bruins got goals from Kenny Agostino, Ryan Fitzgerald and Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson while Zane McIntyre made his eleventh start of the season in net.

Providence wasted little time jumping out to a lead, as just 1:45 into play Agostino gave the P-Bruins a 1-0 lead. Chris Breen fired a shot from the left blue-line with Agostino set up in front. He tipped home his fifth goal of the season by Devils goaltender Ken Appleby to give his club the early lead. Binghamton responded with a goal of their own at 12:45, as Jacob MacDonald fired a slapshot by everybody and in for his eighth goal of the season to tie things 1-1. The P-Bruins answered right back on the power play at 16:14 on beautiful passing plays. Forsbacka Karlsson and Colby Cave played tic-tac-toe perfectly and found Fitzgerald all alone for a backdoor goal. His sixth of the season gave Providence a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

With just seconds remaining on a power play, Forsbacka Karlsson gave the P-Bruins some breathing room with his sixth goal of the season. At 6:27 Josh Hennessy dug the puck out of the left corner and passed it over to Fitzgerald. He sent a centering feed from the corner over to Forsbacka Karlsson alone between the hash marks who buried it to give Providence a 3-1 lead. Fitzgerald later dropped the gloves for the first time in his career, giving him a Gordie Howe hat-trick. After 40 minutes of play, the P-Bruins held a 3-1 edge over the Devils.

Binghamton refused to go down quietly, as at 6:45 while on the power play they again pulled back within one. MacDonald fed Nick Lappin alone between the hashes who sent one by McIntyre for his eleventh goal of the season, making things 3-2. That would be as close as they would get, however, as McIntyre and the P-Bruins held off the Devils desperation attempts at the end to win by a 3-2 final.

McIntyre stopped 28 of 30 shots while Appleby stopped 29 of 32. Providence was 2-5 on the power play and 4-5 on the penalty kill.

The Providence Bruins are the American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL's Boston Bruins, playing their home games at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, RI. Spanning more than 25 years, the Boston/Providence affiliation is one of the longest and most successful player development partnerships in professional hockey history.

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American Hockey League Stories from December 12, 2017


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