AHL Providence Bruins

Thomas, P-Bruins blank Falcons in home season finale

April 9, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Providence Bruins News Release


The Providence Bruins played their final home game of the regular season on Friday night at the Dunkin' Donuts Center, and sent 8,132 fans home happy with a 3-0 victory over the Springfield Falcons. The shutout was the 10th of the year for the Bruins, a single-season franchise record. The Black and Gold tied a franchise record by allowing only one shot on goal in the second period, as they outshot Springfield, 14-1. The Bruins are now 36-28-10-4 (86 points), putting them in fourth place in the Atlantic Division, one point behind the Worcester IceCats. The Bruins and IceCats face off on Saturday night in Worcester.

Providence defensemen scored all three goals on Friday night. Bruin captain Rich Brennan scored the game-winning goal on a first period power play. He leads all Bruin blueliners with 12 goals, and has scored a power play goal in each of the last three games, including two game-winners. Brennan ranks fourth among AHL defensemen with eight power play goals, and is tied for second with four game-winning goals. He also had an assist in the game.

Martin Wilde scored his first goal of the season in the second period, while rookie Milan Jurcina added a power play goal and an assist. Jurcina has five goals on the year.

Bruin goaltender Tim Thomas stopped all 20 shots he faced, for his franchise single-season record eighth shutout of the season. He is 20-15-5 on the year. He ranks sixth in the AHL with a 1.88 GAA and third with a .939 save percentage, while being tied for third in shutouts. Thomas is the franchise career leader with nine shutouts in 76 games.

Prior to the start of the game, the Bruins handed out their team awards. Thomas was voted by his teammates as the MetLife Auto & Home Most Valuable Player, and also won the New England Dodge Dealers Three Stars Award. Goaltending partner Hannu Toivonen was selected by his teammates as The Martone Group Rookie of the Year, while the players voted Kevin Dallman as the Dunkin' Donuts Best Defenseman.

Left wing Mike Gellard received the Sovereign Bank Community Service Award, while center Brad Boyes took the Shaw's Leading Scorer Award. Boyes and center Matt Herr, who entered the game tied for the team lead with +12 ratings, received the National City Mortgage Plus/Minus Award.

Finally, forwards Colton Orr and Brendan Walsh were voted by the fans as the recipients of the Hendricks Memorial Fan Appreciation Award.

The Bruins visit Worcester on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m., before concluding the regular season on Sunday afternoon at 4:05 p.m. in Hartford. Both games will be broadcast live on WDDZ AM-550.

The Bruins will announce their playoff game dates on Monday, April 12.

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American Hockey League Stories from April 9, 2004


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