(Photo Courtesy of the Providence Bruins)

By: Jen Stasio Coombe | Follow Me On Twitter @hockeygirl2976

Week six is in the books, and the team is starting to show glimmers of the group we have been waiting for.  Consistent with previous years, the Providence Bruins have started out a bit of wreck, but as the weeks pass by, the boys tend to mesh together and start bringing the game we all know they have within.  This weekends two out of three game wins, with the loss being a very, very close overtime loss is evidence of just how far they have come.

Colby Cave and Anton Blidh have been standouts for this team providing what coach Jay Leach calls, “the heartbeat” of the team.   This may be just what they need as the team faces a merry-go-round of players back and forth to Boston to cover injuries, leaves of absence, and even some players coming back for more spit and polish.  The close relationship between these two teams is truly a blessing, but along with that comes the challenge of juggling that interdependency.  The stability, consistency, and leadership shown by Cave and Blidh all season has without a doubt contributed to the ability for the entire team to mesh and build to where they are now.

(Photo Courtesy of the Providence Bruins)

Goaltender Performance:

Dan Vladar manned the net on Friday at home against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.  Saving 27-28 shots on goal bringing his save percentage to .909.  Vladar was called up to Boston on an emergency basis Saturday and was released back to Providence on Monday.

Zane McIntyre manning the net on Saturday in Bridgeport. Saving 20-25 shots on goal in the highly contested match-up.  Taking the net on back to back days, this time back in Providence on Sunday. Zane Saved 20-22 shots on goal ending the weekend with a save percentage of .833.

This Weekends Scores:

FRI Nov. 9 HOME              Providence 2-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 1 WIN!!! 

SAT Nov.10 AWAY            Providence 4-Bridgeport 5 OTL!!!

SUN Nov.11 HOME            Providence 5-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 2 WIN!!! 

(Photo Courtesy of the Providence Bruins)

Detailed Daily Game Re-caps:

Friday, November 9, 2018, Providence Bruins Vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (HOME)

The Providence Bruins host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at the Dunkin Donuts Center for their first match-up of the year.  This low scoring game was packed with twelve penalties evenly split between the two teams.

The first period saw the penalties begin around the five-and-a-half-minute mark when penguins Czuczman was sent to the box for high-sticking.  Five minutes later the same teams Haggerty was called for tripping and thirty seconds into the power-play Providences Martin Bakos scored the first goal of the night with help from Kovar and Fitzgerald. Not satisfied with just contributing to a goal, Kovar went to the box for hooking to round out the period.

The second period was even lighter on the goal scoring, but they did take it up one notch on the penalty meter.  Penguins Hovart and Bruins Frederic started the penalties off at 6:49 seconds with a litany of charges.  Hovart went to the penalty box for a 2-minute minor (boarding), and a 5-minute major (fighting), but Frederic one-upped those with 2-minute minor (instigating), 5-minute major (fighting) and 10-minute misconduct (instigating).  The rest of the period was quiet save two more minors, one for the Penguins Summers (slashing) and the other for our very own Colby Cave (interference).

The third period was started off with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton player Summers being sent to the box for slashing two-and-a-half minutes in. Following this stint Providence skaters, Blidh and Johansson visited the penalty box for holding and cross-checking, respectively. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was not content with letting this game slip through their grasp without at least scoring one goal.  So, at 15:08 Lafferty with help from Haggerty found the back of the net to even the score in Providence. One final penalty from Providence from Fitzgerald for slashing and the lads were off to over-time.

Over-time came in like the other periods with an initial penalty from WBS near the two-minute mark putting Providence on the power-play.  This was to be the break the Bruins were looking for as Fitzgerald scored the second power-play goal of the night with the help of Goloubef and Kovar.  This game-winning goal saw Providence take the two points and the W in the first match against WBS this season.

(Photo Courtesy of the Providence Bruins)

Saturday, November 10, 2018, Providence Bruins Vs. Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AWAY)

Traveling to Bridgeport to meet up with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers this weekend saw a much different game than Friday with a similar, but not as gratifying result.

The first period kicked off with Bruins Forward Fitzgerald being booked for interference at 1:18, putting Bridgeport on the quick power-play.  Not letting this opportunity slip away Toews assisted by Fritz and C. Bourque scored the first goal of the game.  A reversal of roles was coming soon as R. Bourque was booked for cross-checking and while on the power-play Bruins Forward Kovar scored the tying power-play goal assisted by Fitzgerald and Cave.  Bridgeport would not be kept down for long however as only a minute later Bellows scored for the Sound Tigers with help from Bernier and Fritz, putting them up by 1 with a score of 2-1. Three more penalties were handed out in the remainder of the period, one to Bridgeport’s St. Denis (holding) and two to Providence skaters Goloubef (tripping) and Fitzgerald (holding).

Beginning the second period down by one the Bruins were not thrilled when Bridgeport was the first to find the back of the net at 4:28 on a goal by C. Bourque assisted by St. Denis and Koivula.  This blow may have contributed to the roughing penalties handed out to Bruins Kovar and WBS Jones.  Not all who are down use their fists, in this instance Anton Blidh used his stick to score an unassisted goal at 5:39 to bring them back within one goal.  The next fifteen minutes were not so kind to the Bruins.  First, two penalties were handed out to him one to Zboril for Slashing and the second to Hughes for hooking.  Then to top off this rough period the Bourques strike again and put the Sound Tigers up by two for the second time this night.

A pep talk during the intermission, a snack, or a few swear words as Halak would suggest, whatever it was it appeared to work.  The third period saw the Bruins come out with a renewed fight. The first to score this period was Zboril with assistance from Senyshyn and Cave at 3:49 and the lead is again shrunk to one, Providence 3- WBS 4.  Trent Frederic took the penalty game seriously being called at 4:15 and 7:14 for hooking and then elbowing. Bridgeport may have been concerned that their penalty box was getting cold so Ho-Sang and Toews each took a turn warming it up at 8:48 and 9:12. This power play gave Donato space and time he needed to level the score with help from Fitzgerald and Goloubef he found the back of the net at 10:26.  The score now was a brilliant four all.  The period ended on a charging penalty for Bridgeport’s Bernier that resulted in a 5-minute major, 10-minute game misconduct, and a two-game suspension that was handed out on Tuesday.

Overtime was short and not so sweet for Providence as Bridgeport came up with a goal at 1:22, clinching the W and the 2-points for the night.

(Photo Courtesy of the Providence Bruins)

Sunday, November 11, 2018, Providence Bruins Vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (HOME)

It’s Saturday, and the Bruins are back at the Dunk for a matinee game with the WBS Penguins.  Meeting up with this team for the second time this weekend and fired up from a very close loss the night before means the emotions would be running high for our hometown boys in Black and Gold.  This game would prove to be unlike any other we had seen this weekend.

The first period was the tale of two teams.  One who scored goals and one who sat in the penalty box.  Fortunately for the Bruins fans, ours was the team who scored goals.  The Penguins, however, were matching our goals with penalties.  The first penalty came at 2:00 when Grant was booked on roughing.  The second came at 10:34 when DiPauli was caught elbowing and the last of the period was at 13:42 to Grant for a delay of game.  This was when the scoring began.  At 14:17 Donato scored on the power-play with the help of Goloubef and Cave to give Providence a one-goal lead.  Three minutes later Cave and Blidh stepped up to feed one to Bakos scoring the second goal of the night.  The end of the first period came with a score of Providence 2- WBS 0

The second period began on a high for Providence.  At 3:32 Senyshyn took the feeder from Clifton and scored the third goal of the day.  The third goal apparently did not sit well with Penguin Haggerty as he and Cave got in a tussle at 5:35. Both were sent to the box with five minutes for fighting and Haggerty was granted an additional two minutes for roughing.  Once again on the power-play Providence was able to score.  This time it was Messner taking the assists from Cehlarik and Senyshyn to make the score a solid Providence 4-WBS 0.  Another ten minutes of the game passed by without any significant progress on either side.  Then at 18:25 Kovar was called for tripping, and the Bruins were now on the PK for the remainder of the period.  With twenty seconds left to go, the strangest call I have ever seen was issued, McIntyre was called for Holding.  You read that correctly, the goalie was called for holding.  Interesting.

The third period began, and the Bruins were able to kill what was left of the penalty.  Back to full strength but the Bruins appeared to not be as polished as they had been in the first two periods. They seemed somewhat scattered, and the Penguins did not hesitate to capitalize upon this.  Before they got going though, a few penalties had to come along. Bruins Goloubef was called for interference at 5:59 and Penguins Angello for slashing at 6:31. With the initial penalties on both sides out of the way, the Penguin’s Grant took assistance from Lindberg and O’Neill to score their first goal of the night and bring the score to Providence 4 – WBS 1.  Only a minute later the away team did it again.  This time Angello with the help of Blueger and DiPauli scored the Penguins second goal. Not to be shut-out of the goal scoring for the period Bruins forward Donato with an assist from Kovar scored the final goal of the night.  Ending a high-scoring runaway win for the Bruins with a final score of 5-2 and the only game of the weekend without an OT.

Check Out All The Providence Bruins Action In The Upcoming Weeks Live And In Person With Tickets From SeatGiant! Don’t forget to use discount code BNGP to save a little cash!!

(Photo Courtesy of the Providence Bruins)