By: Ryan Duffy | Follow Me On Twitter @Rduffy26
Following a total sixty-minute effort in a 3-0 victory against the Hershey Bears on Saturday, the Providence Bruins lost 4-1 in their second matchup against the Springfield Thunderbirds last night. These two teams met earlier this season on October 24th, which resulted in another 4-1 loss at the Dunkin Donuts Center. With Jack Studnicka returning to the lineup, Providence hoped he would help spark the offense heading into this game.
To start the first period, both teams seemed to have a slow start despite having power-play chances. The Bruins drew the first penalty as Jakub Lauko gained the Thunderbird’s zone and was tripped by defenseman Josh Wesley. Providence only registered one shot on the power play and failed to create any momentum. Shortly after, the Thunderbirds got their first crack on the power play with Lauko in the box for slashing.
Unlike Providence, Springfield looked sharp on the power play and tested Kyle Kyser with three quality shots. Keyser was up for the task, stood his ground, and made several reactionary saves. Then with just over a minute left in the first period, the Thunderbirds struck first after a shot from the point from Josh Wesley was tipped by Hugh McGing and past Keyser. The score remained 1-0 after the first, with the shots favoring Providence 12-11.
The Bruins came out flying in the second period with eight shots on goal within just five minutes into the period. One of the chances came off a one-timer from Jesper Froden on the left circle, but Charlie Lindgren denied him with the pad. The Bruins continued their early pressure and finally got on the board after Urho Vaakanainen walked in from the point with plenty of room and went far side on Lindgren. Vaakanainen finally got the monkey off his back and scored his first of the season.
Providence would head to the power play a couple of minutes later after Curtis Hall drew a holding penalty. Their power play in the second period looked much better, and the Bruins would nearly take the lead after some excellent puck movement and a shot off the crossbar from Samuel Asselin.
Just seconds later, Samuel Asselin would head to the box for tripping. The Thunderbirds would eventually capitalize on the ensuing power play as the puck made its way off the wall after a failed clearing attempt by Providence to a wide-open Sam Anas, who picked a corner on Keyser. Anas would strike again four minutes later with an impressive bank shot off an out of position Kyle Keyser to make the score 3-1 heading into the third.
The Thunderbirds carried their momentum from their two-goal lead and began putting a lot of pressure on Keyser. After a couple of Bruins were caught amid a change, the Thunderbirds transitioned to a 4-on-2 odd-man rush. The puck found its way to Sam Anas, who had an open net in front of him, but Keyser sprawled to his left to rob Sam Anas of his hat trick and a sure goal.
Keyser would continue putting on a show in the third, making thirteen saves on fourteen shots. His efforts weren’t enough to help the Bruins bounce back as Vaakanainen turned the puck over at the far blue line, which eventually led to a breakaway goal for Nathan Walker to make it 4-1 for the Thunderbirds.
Overall, Providence failed to capitalize on their golden opportunities despite leading in the shot department. After Providence allowed two goals in the second period, they looked depleted in the third and made sloppy turnovers all over the ice.
Providence will look to bounce back on Friday against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at 7:05 pm EST.
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