P-Bruins Stomp Wolf Pack to Lower Magic Number to Two
April 6, 2018 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Providence Bruins News Release
Providence, RI - The Providence Bruins defeated the Hartford Wolf Pack Friday night 6-3, lowering their magic number to clinch a playoff berth to two. The P-Bruins got two goals from Ryan Fitzgerald along with goals from Anton Blidh, Jordan Szwarz, Trent Frederic and Austin Czarnik while Zane McIntyre made his 42nd start of the season in net.
Providence dominated the zone time in the opening period and it showed on the scoreboard. After being held scoreless despite an 8-1 shots edge through six minutes, Blidh gave the P-Bruins a 1-0 lead at 7:59. Taking a pass from Cameron Hughes, Blidh started a 2-on-1 break with Jack Studnicka up the right side. Rather than pass, Blidh surprised Hartford goalie Alexander Georgiev with a wrister from inside the right circle for his 11th goal of the season. Just 1:11 later, Szwarz doubled that lead with his 21st goal of the season. At the bottom of the left circle, he blasted a one-timer in off a pass from Fitzgerald to give Providence a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
That domination continued into period number two with Providence tacking on a trio of goals. Fitzgerald found the back of the net on the power play at 2:58, tapping a beautiful feed from Czarnik in from the crease to make things 3-0 Providence. He struck again at 8:37, taking advantage of a poor Hartford clearing attempt. With the puck bouncing around between the hashes, he fired a spin-around shot in for his 19th of the season and second of the night to extend the lead to 4-0. Two minutes later, Frederic ended Georgiev's night early on his third goal of the season. With Colton Hargrove and Adam Payerl creating traffic in front, Frederic had a clean look at a wrister in front. His goal forced the Wolf Pack to put Marek Mazanec between the pipes and sent the P-Bruins into the locker room up 5-0.
Chris Bigras and Ryan Gropp tried to inch Hartford back into it in the third period, each scoring goals less than a minute apart. However, Czarnik cemented the P-Bruins victory at 15:53 with a snipe to the top left corner. Studnicka earned his second assist of the game on the play in his AHL debut as Providence took a 6-2 lead. Ryan Lindgren scored for Hartford with under two minutes to play, but the P-Bruins still went on to a 6-3 win.
McIntyre stopped 37 of 40 shots in his 24th win of the season. Georgiev stopped 20 of 25 shots before being pulled while Mazanec stopped 13 of 14 after entering in the second. Providence was 1-2 on the power play and 3-4 on the penalty kill. The P-Bruins can clinch a playoff berth tomorrow night in Bridgeport when they take on the Sound Tigers at 7:05pm. A win of any kind over the Sound Tigers would secure a place in the Calder Cup Playoffs for a sixth consecutive season.
American Hockey League Stories from April 6, 2018
- Bakersfield Felled by Moose 4-1 - Manitoba Moose
- B-Sens Score Five Straight to Hand Amerks 5-1 Loss - Rochester Americans
- Wolves Don't Clinch Playoff Spot in Iowa - Chicago Wolves
- Vande Sompel scores twice as Bridgeport remains alive in playoff push - Bridgeport Islanders
- Currie Gets His 20th in Condors Loss to Manitoba - Bakersfield Condors
- San Antonio Falls to Cleveland 6-3 - San Antonio Rampage
- Too Little, Too Late for Pack - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Devils Down Crunch in Comeback Fashion, 4-3 - Binghamton Devils
- Sens Use Huge Second Period to Beat Americans - Belleville Senators
- Crunch Fall to Devils, 4-3, in Shootout - Syracuse Crunch
- Penguins Drop 4-3 Contest to Desperate Sound Tigers - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Toronto Marlies Capture Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy - Toronto Marlies
- Grenier's Unforgettable Homecoming Highlights 5-1 Win in Laval - Springfield Thunderbirds
- Monsters Rally Past Rampage, 6-3 - Cleveland Monsters
- P-Bruins Stomp Wolf Pack to Lower Magic Number to Two - Providence Bruins
- Comets Rally to Beat Marlies in Shootout - Utica Comets
- Kings Recall Defenseman Oscar Fantenberg from Ontario - Ontario Reign
- Pirri Rejoins Chicago - Chicago Wolves
- Game #64 Preview: Tucson vs. Grand Rapids - Tucson Roadrunners
- 'Canes Recall Roy from Charlotte - Charlotte Checkers
- Rangers Recall Matt Beleskey and Steven Fogarty from Hartford - Hartford Wolf Pack
- IceHogs Announce Our Team, Our Time Playoff Campaign - Rockford IceHogs
- Jets Assign Eric Comrie and Sami Niku to the Manitoba Moose - Manitoba Moose
- Kearns Voted Winner of AHL's Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award - Binghamton Devils
- Binghamton's Bracken Kearns Voted Winner of 2017-18 Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award - AHL
- Charlotte Checkers Playoff Clinching Scenario Tonight - Charlotte Checkers
- Rathgeb Agrees to Terms - Bridgeport Islanders
- Marlies Face Comets in Second Half of Home-And-Home - Toronto Marlies
- Iowa Wild Signs Forward Mason Shaw to ATO - Iowa Wild
- San Diego Gulls to Host Twitter Fan Takeover of @SDGullsAHL on Saturday, April 7 - San Diego Gulls
- Quenneville Agrees to Entry-Level Deal - Bridgeport Islanders
- Chris Terry Named to 2017-18 AHL First All-Star Team - Laval Rocket
- Sens Reassign Kelly to Belleville - Belleville Senators
- Game Day Build-Up: Senators at Americans, April 6 - Belleville Senators
- Playoff Push Intensifies with Three Games this Weekend - Bridgeport Islanders
- Game Day Build-Up: Senators at Americans - Belleville Senators
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
