By: Ryan Duffy | Follow Me On Twitter @Rduffy26
After shutting out the Springfield Thunderbirds on Saturday night 3-0, the Providence Bruins earned two more points after a 5-1 win over the Toronto Marlies and improved to 10-6-3-1 on the season. Troy Grosenick got the start in this game for Providence after having not played in an AHL game in over two weeks. Grosenick came up big and made 28 saves on 29 shots en route to Providence’s win over the Marlies.
The Marlies got an A+ opportunity right off the bat as Mikhail Abramov was left wide open in front of the Bruins net. Luckily, Troy Grosenick was alert and made a reactionary left pad save. After Grosenick’s save, Providence transitioned from defense to offense and got the game’s first goal after Zach Senyshyn hit Cameron Hughes, crashing the net. Hughes would tip Senyshyn’s feed past Marlies’ goaltender, Joseph Woll, and the Bruins would take the lead in just under two minutes.
Shortly after the Providence goal, the Bruins would head to the penalty kill with Tyler Lewington in the box for delay of game. Providence would surprisingly outshoot Toronto on their man advantage 3-2, including a breakaway opportunity from Cam Hughes.
Just over halfway through the first, Jack Studnika would fumble a puck at the blue line and turn the puck over to Josh Ho-Sang. Ho-Sang had an excellent opportunity to tie the game on a breakaway after the turnover, but a Providence defender obstructed him. Fortunately, there was no penalty called on the play.
Four minutes later, Providence would have possession in the offensive zone. Eventually, the puck found its way to Nick Wolff at the blue line. Wolff would shoot the puck off the boards, and the puck would end up on the stick of Oskar Steen, who would slam home his seventh goal of the season to put the Bruins up by two.
With just 40 seconds remaining, the Bruins would draw a penalty as Joseph Duszak hauled down Eduards Tralmaks at the blue line. Tralmaks appeared to be injured on the play and went to the Bruins dressing room but later returned to the game in the second period.
Providence would start the second period with 1:20 remaining on the Duszak penalty. On the powerplay, the Bruins would extend their lead to 3-0 after Studnika ripped a low shot from the left circle that resulted in Justin Brazeau putting the rebound past Woll. Brazeau’s tally was his third goal in as many games this season. The Bruins were clearly the dominant team from the start of puck drop, and the Marlies were looking to find a way to climb back in the game.
Halfway through the second, Toronto started to pick up the physicality. Eventually, Toronto captain Richard Clune blatantly boarded Providence defenseman, Matt Murphy. In retaliation, Tyler Lewington showed leadership by fighting Clune after his cheap hit on Murphy. Clune would head to the box due to his hit on Murphy and put Providence on the power play.
On the ensuing powerplay, Providence would fail to generate much offense. As time winded down on the powerplay, the Marlies would get a goal back as Bobby McMann snipped one far side on Grosenick. After Toronto’s shorthanded tally, the Marlies started to put heavy pressure in the Bruins zone and outshot Providence 7-4 by the end of the period.
The Marlies would continue their strong finish to the second period and outshoot the Bruins 7-2 six minutes into the third. Although, momentum would swing in Providence’s favor after Matteo Pietroniro and Matt Filipe dropped the gloves. Just five seconds after the fight, Tralmaks would score on a wraparound after a faceoff win in the offensive zone and put Providence up 4-1. To add insult to injury, Oskar Steen recorded his second goal of the game 24 seconds later for a 5-1 final score at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
The win came at a cost, though, with the Bruins losing Jakub Lauko due to an apparent lower-body injury during the third period. He did not return to the game, and his status is currently unknown. Providence is back in action on Wednesday, December 15, at 7:00 PM EST as they start their seven-game road trip to end the month.
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