By: Dominic Tiano | Follow me on Twitter @dominictiano
The Boston Bruins traded prospect Brady Lyle to the St Louis Blues for the dreaded “future considerations” last week. Lyle will report to the Blues AHL affiliate Springfield Thunderbirds. Lyle had a good season with Providence a year ago but, for whatever reason, took a step back this season. I wish him all the best going forward.
In some Providence Bruins player updates: It is now official, Callum Booth and Cameron Hughes will become Group 6 unrestricted free agents on July 1, 2022. The Bruins could sign them to extensions, or the pair could seek out opportunities elsewhere.
Let’s begin with you taking the time to read this article.
The Boston Bruins dipped into the NCAA free agent well again last week and signed highly coveted Western Michigan Goaltender Brandon Bussi. The article above will tell you about the person he is. While several teams were interested, the Bruins were his choice, and all they had to do was work out a deal.
If you have a subscription to the New England Hockey Journal, you can get an introduction to Bussi here by Nick Perri.
The Bruins didn’t stop there with NCAA free agents. On Friday, they announced they had signed Nebraska-Omaha forward Joey Abate to an AHL deal beginning with the 2022-2023 season. As I wrote here last week, the Bruins are revamping their Providence roster for next season.
Fifth seed Avangard Omsk was in a do-or-die situation on Monday as they faced Metallurg MG in their best-of-seven series trailing 3-2. Up until then, Metallurg had won all three games in which Peter Cehlarik has held pointless, and Avangard had won both games in which he found the scoresheet. And you guessed it, Cehlarik registered two helpers as Avangard evened the series with a 5-1 victory and set up a seventh and deciding game on Wednesday. It all came to an end, though, as Metallurg blanked Avangard 4-0 to take the series in seven games and ending Cehlarik’s season. Cehlarik’s contract expires at the end of the month, and he is free to sign with any league around the world except the NHL, where he is still an RFA with the Bruins.
On Monday, Matias Mantykivi and his Ilves squad took on Karpat in game two of their first-round series. While Mantykivi didn’t get on the scoresheet, he had a very good game that Ilves won 2-1 in overtime to take a 2-0 series lead. On Wednesday, Mantykivi scored the game-tying goal that would eventually force overtime. Karpat won in the extra session. On Friday, Karpat won in overtime to even the series at two. Mantykivi was held off the scoresheet in that one. On Saturday, Ilves won a tight match 1-0 with a goal midway through the third to take a 3-2 series lead. Mantykivi did not figure on that goal. Ilves can close out the series today (Monday).
On Wednesday, Oskar Jellvik was held off the scoresheet for the first time in these playoffs, But Djurgardens was still able to win in a shootout to take a 1-0 series lead. On Friday, Jellvik had a helper in Djurgardens 4-0 blanking of Mora IK to take the second-round series 2-0. Djurgardens moves onto the semifinals in a one-game elimination match on Saturday against Rogle BK, and the winner goes onto the finals on Sunday for the Anton Cup.
It didn’t help Brett Harrison and his Oshawa Generals that five of their last seven games were against either the Hamilton Bulldogs or the Kingston Frontenacs. The coaching change in Oshawa has brought much better defense, but it has come at the expense of offense, and it shows as the Gens won back-to-back games for the first time on the weekend since mid-February.
Providence Bruins Player Stats
Providence Bruins Goalie Stats
Maine Mariners Stats
Coming up this week:
| PLAYER | MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | SUN |
| MANTYKIVI | Vs. KAR | Vs. KAR* | |||||
| JELLVIK | Vs. ROG | TBD | |||||
| BEECHER | Vs. DEN | ||||||
| GASSEAU | At WAT | At D M | |||||
| LANGENBRUNNER | At WAT | At D M | |||||
| HARRISON | Vs. HAM | ||||||
| MAST | At Soo | At ERIE | At KIT | At FLT | |||
| LYSELL | Vs POR | At KEL | At KEL | ||||
| SVEDEBACK | Vs. MUS | Vs. YNG |
AROUND THE GLOBE
WHO’S HOT:
Philip Svedeback has returned to his early-season form after injuries had set him back. He has now allowed two or fewer goals in eight of his last nine games and stopped 250 of 268 shots for a .932 save percentage in those nine games.
Oskar Jellvik has three goals and three assists in his four playoff games for Djurgardens IF. His six points in four games have him seventh in playoff scoring (six players tied with seven points), but since Djurgardens has swept their way through the playoffs, he has played fewer games.
Ryan Mast and his Sarnia Sting had their game postponed on Sunday (traveling issues) and will be played today (Monday). Mast has a goal and eight assists in his last ten games Sarnia has lost six of their last seven and are on the verge of dropping out of the playoff picture. Hard to imagine the Sting needing more from Mast, but if they are going to right the ship, then they do.
WHO’S WARM:
Fabian Lysell has only scored three goals in his last 13 games and ended a six-game goalless streak with a shorty on Sunday. He does have nine helpers in those 13 games and a whopping 51 shots on net.
After scoring two goals with no assists in six games (27 shots on net), things have picked up for Brett Harrison. He has two goals and four helpers in his last seven games (14 shots on net).
Andre Gasseau had a whopping nine shots on net Friday in a 1-0 loss to the Omaha Lancers. Less was more on Saturday as he had a goal and an assist in a 7-1 thrashing against the same Lancers with just three shots on net. Gasseau has two goals and an assist in his last five games as he works his way back up to his season average of .64 points per game after a cold spell.
After going pointless in eight games, Mason Langenbrunner has three assists in his last three games, non-consecutively, and has found the confidence and touch he was lacking during the cold streak. A strong finish to the end of the season could have Langenbrunner reach the .42 points-per-game he was at before his pointless streak.
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