By: Mark Allred | Follow me on Twitter / X @BlackAndGold277
After snapping a three-game losing streak on Friday night with a 3-2 regulation victory over Utica at the Amica Mutual Pavilion, the Providence Bruins came into last night’s contest against Bridgeport with a sluggish start at home. In my opinion, the first period against the Islanders last night was by far the worst start to any game in this 2024-25 season.
Providence looked like they were skating in cement for a better part of the opening frame, and the visiting Bridgeport Islanders were the better-prepared team coming into this game. Down 0-2, Ryan Mougenel demanded on the bench that his team show up and get into this game, and it seemed that, in the final minutes of the first period, he got a response from the bench and the members on the ice.
Already in a hole and down to the NHL New York Islanders affiliate, Providence got on the board with the team’s first goal at the 18:39 mark of the first period courtesy of defenseman Mason Millman. The defenseman/forward, who is with the NHL Bruins affiliate on an AHL-Only contract, came into the offensive zone receiving a pass as a player entering in layers. The assists on Millman’s second goal of the season went to forward Georgii Merkulov and forward Vinni Lettieri. With the helpers on Millman’s goal, forwards Merkulov and Lettieri extended their point streaks to three games.
Providence got off to a quick start in the second period and tied the game against the Islanders at two apiece when Boston Bruins prospect forward Matt Poitras scored his second goal of the season at the 1:15 mark. Poitras received a pass from the blue line at the left side of the hash marks and wristed a shot to the upper right corner of the net. The assists on Poitras’ second of the season went to defenseman Ian Mitchell and forward Patrick Brown. Mitchell extends his point streak to two games with the helper on the Poitras goal. This was the second game in as many nights for Poitras and his goal-scoring efforts. The former second-round pick of the Bruins has been playing much better lately over the first few games of his arrival at the AHL level and has definitely been more noticeable.
The Bruins would take a 3-2 lead and score the final goal in the middle frame courtesy of defenseman Michael Callahan, who notched his first goal of the season. The former Providence College team captain saw an opportunity to skate from the blue line to the center ice hash mark area and rifled a wrist shot over the left shoulder of the Bridgeport netminder. The assists on Callahan’s first goal came from forward Jeffery Viel and John Farrinacci. With the assist on this goal, Farinacci snapped a four-game pointless streak and has remained goalless in his last nine games.
Bridgeport would tie the game at three apiece in the third period at the 8:45 mark from Islanders Chris Terry. Nearly three minutes later, at the 11:27 mark, Bruins prospect forward Riley Duran scored his third goal of the season. The Islanders made a colossal mistake turning the puck over to a Providence player, who quickly got it to Duran, who was skating in at the net at the center ice hash marks. The assists on Duran’s third were courtesy of forward Jaxon Nelson and defenseman Jackson Edward. Nelson got his first point of the 2024-25 AHL season after appearing in nine games, while Edward earned his second point of the season.
Almost four minutes later, Providence would extend its lead to 5-3 with a goal from resident tough guy Jeffery Viel, who notched his third of the season. Viel received a pass from a Providence defender, advancing the puck up the boards. Viel accepted the neutral zone pass and worked his way to center ice, where he got off a nearly double-covered shot to give the Bruins a further gap on the scoreboard. The helpers on Viels’ third came from defenseman Millman and forward Fabian Lysell. This was Millman’s first two-point game of the year and the assist to Lysell extended his point streak to two games.
The final goal for the Providence Bruins came from big forward Riley Tufte, who fired a wrist shot from center ice,e sealing the deal for the NHL Bruins affiliate and a 6-3 victory. The assists on Tufte’s empty netter came from forward Lettieri and forward Patrick Brown. Tufte has goals in two straight games while on the play with assists, giving Lettieri a three-game point streak and Brown his second two-point effort of the year.
Michael DiPietro got the start in goal vs. the Islanders last night, stopping 24 of 27 shots for his seventh victory of the season, and the win snaps a two-game losing streak. The former Vancouver Canucks draft pick is 7-4-2 with one shutout on the year and a 2.22 goals-against-average along with a .917 save percentage.
Providence is back at it this afternoon at 3:05 pm at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in downtown Providence, Rhode Island, as the visiting Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins come to town to finish this three-games in three days AHL schedule. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is in second place in the Atlantic division with a 12-5-1-0 record and 25 points.
The Penguins come into this afternoon’s action with a road record of 5-2-1 and 6-3-1 in their last ten games. The top minor-pro affiliate of the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins will be coming into Providence hot as they look for the team’s second consecutive road victory after beating fellow Atlantic division foe the Hartford Wolf Pack by the score of 6-2.
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