P-Bruins Week in Review
February 6, 2019 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Providence Bruins News Release
The Providence Bruins faced a difficult challenge last weekend, going on the road for a pair of games with the AHL's top team. The P-Bruins and Charlotte Checkers came back from the All-Star break and met for two games in an Atlantic Division battle. It took overtime in each tilt, but Providence swept Charlotte to jump into third place in the division. It is the highest rank of the season for the P-Bruins, who are now 24-16-6-1 with 55 points.
Weekend Recap
Providence headed to the Bojangles' Coliseum Friday night for what turned into a goaltender's duel. After scoreless first period, Ryan Donato's sixth goal of the season put the P-Bruins on the board with 15 seconds left in the second. Donato, who was playing his first game with Providence since returning from Boston, looked like his goal would hold up for the entire game, but the Checkers scored a 6-on-4 goal with 27 seconds left to force overtime. A shootout seemed inevitable, but a goal from Cameron Hughes with 10 seconds left secured a 2-1 overtime win for Providence.
The rematch between the teams Saturday night featured more of the same, as the game headed to overtime without either side finding the back of the net. After the first 65 shots of the night were stopped by the goaltenders, Gemel Smith finally broke through for Providence 1:36 into overtime. Flying in for a 2-on-1 break with Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, Smith potted his ninth goal of the season to give Providence a 1-0 victory and a weekend sweep over the Checkers.
Goaltenders Shine
Zane McIntyre and Dan Vladar were nothing short of brilliant during the weekend, stopping 65-66 shots against the high scoring Checkers attack. McIntyre took center stage Friday, pushing his personal winning-streak up to nine games. He has allowed three or fewer goals in each of those victories and is now third in the AHL with 17 wins on the season. Vladar followed up that performance Saturday with arguably the best game of his career. He stopped all 37 shots Charlotte threw at him, posting his second shutout of the season. The team has recently managed the rookie's minutes closely, but when called upon he has thrived. Among all first-year goaltenders, he is fourth in GAA and in save percentage.
Streaking
The P-Bruins now have an 11-game point streak, the longest current run in the AHL, and are 9-0-1-1 over that time. Their goaltending and defense has been on display throughout, as the team has allowed three or fewer goals in 14 of the last 16 games. At home they have been even better, posting points in 13 straight. They are 10-0-3 during that time and are now 14-3-3 at the Dunk. That is the best record in the league on home ice, a place where they play 18 of their final 29 games of the season.
Special Teams Stepping Up
Providence's special teams have been a force all season and continue to rank among the AHL's best. The team's power play is second in the division and fifth in the Eastern Conference with a 20.1% success rate. Their penalty kill has been even better, stopping 86.6% of opponent power plays to rank second overall in the league. At home they have been even more dominant, ranking number one in the league with kill percentage of 89.6%.
What's Ahead
The P-Bruins will look to extend their point streak up to 12 games when they welcome the Bridgeport Sound Tigers to the Dunk Friday at 7:05pm. The team travels to Bridgeport Saturday at 7pm for a rematch with the Sound Tigers before returning home Sunday at 3:05pm for their first game of the season against the Syracuse Crunch.
American Hockey League Stories from February 6, 2019
- Free Pizza, Dog Days Promo Set for Wednesday Showdown with Pens - Rockford IceHogs
- Amerks Earn Point in 2-1 Shootout Loss to Crunch - Rochester Americans
- Admirals Get Shutout by Stars - Milwaukee Admirals
- Grand Rapids Gets by Moose, 2-1 - Manitoba Moose
- Stars Goaltender Landon Bow Shuts out Admirals in 1-0 Win - Texas Stars
- Four Bears Score to Drop T-Birds, 4-2 - Hershey Bears
- Crunch Come Back to Top Amerks, 2-1, in Shootout - Syracuse Crunch
- T-Birds Unable to Keep Bears at Bay - Springfield Thunderbirds
- Tough Third Trips up Checkers - Charlotte Checkers
- Roadrunners 'Painted Fan of the Game' Starts February 23 - Tucson Roadrunners
- Iacopelli Assigned to Indy - Rockford IceHogs
- Berube's 40 Saves Helps Power Monsters Past Checkers, 5-1 - Cleveland Monsters
- Coyotes Recall Bunting from Tucson - Tucson Roadrunners
- Week 18 Report: Hot Hogs Storm out of All-Star Break - Rockford IceHogs
- John Muse Reassigned to Penguins - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Colorado Avalanche Recall Greer, Lindholm - Colorado Eagles
- Minnesota Wild Recalls Forward Joel Eriksson Ek - Iowa Wild
- The Bridgeport Report: Week 18 - Bridgeport Islanders
- Kyle Connor Named Ephesus/AHL Graduate of the Month - AHL
- Coyotes Assign Hill and Mermis to Tucson - Tucson Roadrunners
- P-Bruins Week in Review - Providence Bruins
- Jets and Moose Celebrate Indigenous Culture with WASAC Night and Follow Your Dreams Day - Manitoba Moose
- Sens Acquire Beaudin from Colorado - Belleville Senators
- Colorado Avalanche Complete AHL Trade - Colorado Eagles
- Game Preview: Bears at Thunderbirds, 7:05 p.m. - Hershey Bears
- Ottawa Recalls Goloubef, Rodewald - Belleville Senators
- T-Birds Look to Cool off Bears Wednesday Night - Springfield Thunderbirds
- Barracuda Point Streak Halted at Seven in Loss to Wild - San Jose Barracuda
- Iowa Gets Back in the Win Column with 4-2 Victory against San Jose - Iowa Wild
- Last Week around the Leagues - OSC Original by Fran Stuchbury
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