By: Mark Allred | Follow me on Twitter / X @BlackAndGold277
Last night, the American Hockey League Providence Bruins kicked off the two-game road trip to Cleveland, Ohio, with a 4-2 victory over the Cleveland Monsters. Before last night’s game at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, the top minor-pro affiliate of the National Hockey League Boston Bruins were down 0-2 in the regular season series, dropping both to the Monsters 4-3 in overtime. With the victory over Cleveland, Providence has now earned seven points in the last seven games and is currently the hottest team in the league.
Providence goaltender Michael DiPietro got the start between the pipes for the Bruins, stopping 27 of 29 Monsters shots. The 25-year-old Ontario, Canada native got his 16th victory of the season and continues to have a stellar campaign, looking to build his game in a contract year. In the last ten games, DiPietro is 7-1-2 with a 1.51 goals-against-average and .947 save percentage in that timeframe.
The Providence Bruins’ scoring started when forward and team captain Patrick Brown got the game’s first goal 24 seconds into the opening frame, scoring his tenth of the season. The lone assist on the Brown goal went to forward Riley Tufte, who stole the puck behind the net and fed a pass to Brown, who pretty much had an open net with Monsters goaltender Jet Greaves out of position.
The second Providence goal of the game came from Bruins forward Riley Tufte, who notched his 12th goal of the season at the 18:02 mark, breaking the 1-1 tie in the first period. The assist on Tufte’s goal went to forward John Farinacci. The goal for Tufte snapped a three-game pointless streak, and the rugged forward now has 23 points in 34 games this season.
Providence got on the board for the third time in this game, scoring on the power play courtesy of defenseman Ian Mitchell, who scored his third goal of the season at the 4:25 mark of the third period. The assists on Mitchell’s third of the year went to forward Georgii Merkulov and Patrick Brown. Mitchell’s goal was a one-timer from the point to break the 2-2 tie.
The Cleveland Monsters, late in the third period, put together a desperate effort to get back in the game by pulling goaltender Greaves for the extra attacker. Providence held off the pressure and ultimately sealed the deal at the 19:36 mark of the third period via an empty net goal from Brown, who scored his second goal of the game, capping off a three-point night in Cleveland. The assist on Brown’s goal went to forward Tyler Pitlick.
The Providence Bruins are back in action tonight for game two of the weekend out here in Cleveland, Ohio. This is the season’s final game between the B’s and Monsters, and with a victory tonight, Providence could tie the regular season series at two apiece. Puck drop at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse is set for 7pm tonight as the NHL Bruins affiliate looks to extend this current point streak to eight games and get closer to Atlantic Division-leading Hershey Bears, who are six points ahead of Providence with 59 points.
If you’d like to watch tonight’s final game of this two-game road trip out in Cleveland, Ohio, we highly recommend you get a streaming package to FloHockey. This FloHockey.tv streaming platform is a fantastic way to see the stars of tomorrow today and provides game access to so many developmental leagues in North America and the Swedish Hockey League.
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