AHL Providence Bruins

P-Bruins Rally but Fall Short

Published on February 11, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Providence Bruins News Release


Providence, RI - The Providence Bruins fell to the Hershey Bears 4-3 on Friday evening at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in front of 10,530 fans. The P-Bruins received goals from Maxime Sauvé, Brian McGrattan and Kirk MacDonald.

Providence applied the pressure early on Hershey's defense, winning the corner battles to test rookie Jared DeMichiel in his first AHL start, but it was the Bears that got on the board first. A Providence defender was tripped up in the slot and subsequently caused a 2-on-1 allowing Boyd Kane to beat Nolan Schaefer five-hole at 4:14. Hershey took a two-goal lead just over two minutes later when Kyle Greentree found the back of the net. Immediately after the faceoff, McGrattan dropped the mitts with Joel Rechlicz in front of Providence's bench, pummeling Rechlicz with right after right. At the 13:53 mark, Sauvé put the P-Bruins on the board with his 13th goal of the season. Veteran David Ling found Sauvé cutting in the slot, allowing Sauvé to beat DeMichiel low on his blocker-side. Matt Bartkowski also assisted on the play to cut the deficit to one going into the first intermission.

A Providence turnover at Hershey's blue-line caused an odd-man rush on Schaefer and allowed Kane to tally his second goal of the night just six minutes into the second frame. However, Providence answered just over two minutes later when Colby Cohen found McGrattan in the low right circle. McGrattan blasted a slap shot at the net and past a screened DeMichiel. The play went back and forth for the remainder of the frame, with Providence out shooting Hershey 10-3. However, despite out shooting the Bears, Hershey's Keith Aucoin scored a short-handed goal to give the Bears a 4-2 lead to go into the second intermission at 19:54 of the period.

Providence continued to test DeMichiel early in the third frame and found the back of the net on the power play at the 6:43 mark when MacDonald brought the P-Bruins within one. Cohen sent a shot from the point towards a crowded net, where Jordan LaVallee-Smotherman got a piece of it, allowing MacDonald to put it home. Providence continued to pummel Hershey's DeMichiel with shots, out shooting the Bears 12-3 in the third frame, but couldn't find the back of the net and Hershey held on for the 4-3 victory, ending the P-Bruins' five-game home winning streak.

Schaefer suffered the loss, blocking 9 of 13 attempts, while DeMichiel stopped 28 shots. Providence went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and 1-for-7 on the power play.

On Saturday, the P-Bruins travel to Springfield for a 7 p.m. tilt. Providence then closes out the weekend on Sunday at home versus Connecticut at 4:05 p.m. for a Valentine's Day themed Poster Night, with posters free to the first 1,000 fans. To purchase tickets of for more information, call the Providence Bruins' ticket office at (401) 273-5000 or log on to the team website at www.providencebruins.com.

For all the latest Providence Bruins news, updates and special offers, become a fan of the P-Bruins on Facebook at www.facebook.com/providencebruins or follow the club on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AHLBruins.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 11, 2011


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