By: Mark Allred | Follow me on Twitter / X @BlackAndGold277
Last night, the American Hockey League Providence Bruins started their three games in three days schedule, hosting the Utica Comets at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in front of 6,695 faithful at the Providence, Rhode Island venue. Providence beat the visiting Comets 5-1, backed by a 26-save effort from starting goaltender Michael DiPietro. This was the second-straight home victory for the National Hockey League Boston Bruins top minor-pro affiliate.
Before last night’s game vs. Utica, the Providence team sat in fourth place in the Atlantic Division, but after Friday night’s win, the B’s propelled themselves up to the third position in the divisional ranking. The B’s are now tied with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at 57 points, and both Providence and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton now trail division-leading Hershey Bears, who are ahead with 63 points.
The second half of this 2024-25 regular season for Providence remains strong and hanging tight with the higher echelon division leaders. B’s Head Coach Ryan Mougenel and coaching staff of Matt Thomas and Trent Whitfield continue to get the best out of every player up and down the bench as the AHL club strives for their eighth straight Calder Cup Playoff appearance. Before last night’s game, Mark Divver reported that Bruins forward prospect Fabian Lysell was to miss this game with what’s being described as some type of ailment. The former first-round selection hadn’t seen game action since February 8th when he was a -1 in a 5-2 loss to the Springfield Thunderbirds.
Last night’s scoring for the Providence Bruins got started quickly as forward Georgii Merkulov notched his 12th goal of the season at the 1:20 mark of the first period. The assists on Merk’s even-strength tally went to forwards John Farinacci and Vinni Lettieri. Farinacci celebrated his 24th birthday yesterday and extended his point streak to three games (0-3-3). On the other hand, Lettieri extended his point streak to two games with last night’s helper (1-1-2) on Merk’s 1-0 go-ahead goal.
In the second period, the visiting Comets would tie the game at one apiece at the 4:56 mark, courtesy of Ryan Schmelzer, who scored his 12th of the season on the man advantage. Later on in the second period, defenseman/forward Mason Millman scored his fourth goal of the season, with the assists going to forwards Patrick Brown and Tyler Pitlick.
At the 3:31 mark of the third period, Bruins forward prospect Riley Duran scored his seventh goal of the season, with the lone assist going to forward Jaxon Nelson. For Duran, this goal snapped a three-game point streak where he has 4-0-4 numbers in his last 15 games. For Nelson, this assist extends his point streak to three games (0-3-3) after having one point in his first 17 games while going in and out of the lineup between the ECHL Maine Mariners and Providence club.
Veteran forward Tyler Pitlick would get his second point of the game at the 3:48 mark of the third period when he scored his 14th goal of the season, giving the Bruins a commanding 4-1 lead over the visiting Comets. The helpers on Pitlick’s 14th went to forwards Jeffery Veil and Patrick Brown, with team Captain Brown capturing his second point of the game.
The game’s final goal for the Providence Bruins came at the 18:50 mark of the final period courtesy of B’s prospect Riley Duran, who scored his eighth of the season via an empty-net goal. The lone assist on Duran’s empty-netter came from Jeffery Veil, who notched his second point of the game and captured his fifth multi-point game of the season. Veil continues to be a solid free-agent addition for the AHL B’s as he provides value and leadership up and down the lineup, along with a physical presence.
Providence goaltender Michael DiPietro was stellar once again in this game for the NHL B’s AHL affiliate, capturing his 17th victory of the season, stopping 26 of 27 Comets shots. The 25-year-old Bruins netminder is now 17-6-4 with four shutouts and a respectable 1.96 goals-against-average and .930 save percentage. DiPietro is set to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and with this year’s outstanding play, should get contract extension consideration from the NHL Bruins organization regardless of the landscape ahead of him with current NHL’ers Jeremy Swayman and Joonas Korpisalo.
With last night’s victory at home over Utica, Providence now improves their home record to 15-6-3 at the AMP and 7-2-1 in the last ten games. The Bruins are on the road in Bridgeport, Connecticut, tonight to play game two of three this weekend against the host Bridgeport Islanders. Providence has a road record of 11-9-1-1 this season, while the Atlantic Division last-place Islanders are only 3-17-0-2 at the Total Mortgage Arena. The puck drops at 5pm tonight in Connecticut as the Bruins look to make it 2-0 on the weekend action and secure the second-place spot over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, who face the division-leading Hershey Bears tonight.
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