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AHL Providence Bruins

P-Bruins Fall to Thunderbirds

April 14, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Providence Bruins News Release


Providence, RI - The Providence Bruins allowed seven straight goals after tallying the first two of the game, leading to a 7-2 loss to the Springfield Thunderbirds on Friday night at the MassMutual Center. Georgii Merkulov and Chris Wagner scored the goals for the P-Bruins.

How It Happened

From the left circle, Vinni Lettieri one-timed a pass across to Merkulov inside the right circle, who walked it between the hash marks before firing a shot above the blocker of the goaltender, giving the P-Bruins a 1-0 lead 4:24 into the game. Shane Bowers was credited with a secondary assist.

While short-handed, Wagner escaped his own zone to create a 2-on-1 rush, looked off the pass, and zipped a wrist shot from the right circle into the upper-left corner, extending the Providence lead to 2-0 with 7:05 remaining in the first period. Jack Ahcan received an assist on the tally.

Matthew Kessel fired a slapshot from the point that bounced off the back wall and out to the right post for Matthew Peca, who tapped it into the open side of the net 44 seconds into the second frame.

12 seconds after the Peca tally, Hugh McGing put a wrist shot on net from the left circle that ricocheted out of the glove of the goaltender and back to McGing above the crease, where he put in the rebound to tie the game at 2-2.

From the right circle, Adam Gaudette snapped a shot short-side top-shelf with 54 seconds left in the second period, giving the T-Birds a 3-2 lead.

3:03 into the third period, McGing rushed the puck up the left wing, before firing a pass to Will Bitten at the right post for a tap-in goal, extending the Springfield lead to 4-2.

Bitten slid the puck from the right circle to Mikhail Abramov at the right post, who turned and flipped a shot through the goaltender, giving the T-Birds a 5-2 lead with 15:01 left in the third period.

McGing took the puck wide around a defender along the right wing and tucked a shot on the goaltender that rebounded off the pads and out to Nikita Alexandrov above the crease, who put in the rebound with 7:34 remaining in the third period, extending the Springfield lead to 6-2.

Alexandrov passed the puck from the left boards to McGing in the slot for a one-timer that extended the T-Birds lead to 7-2 with 3:32 left in the third frame.

Stats

Merkulov notched his team-leading 24th goal of the season. That is the sixth most by any rookie in the league this season.

Keyser stopped 29 of 36 shots faced. The P-Bruins totaled 41 shots.

The Providence power play went 0-for-3, and the penalty kill was 3-for-5.

Next Game

The P-Bruins host the Bridgeport Islanders on Saturday, April 15 at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m. ET.

Check out the Providence Bruins Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from April 14, 2023


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