By: Mark Allred | Follow me on Twitter / X @BlackAndGold277
The American Hockey League’s Providence Bruins are on the road in Toronto, Ontario, tonight to kick off the first long road trip of the 2025-26 season. The minor-pro affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Boston Bruins recently spent the last five games on home ice at the Amica Mutual Pavilion, going 3-2 in front of the home faithful, but now shifts their focus to a road schedule where the Providence team remains unbeaten at 5-0-0.
Providence looks to get back in the win column tonight when the B’s get things started up north at the Coca-Cola Coliseum, home of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs AHL affiliate. The Bruins, unfortunately, didn’t come out with a complete game to end the recent homestretch at the Amica, dropping a 0-1 loss to the visiting Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton Penguins in a goaltending duel between Providence’s Michael DiPietro and Pens netminder Joel Blomqvist this past Sunday afternoon, November 22nd.
The Bruins enter this evening’s action sitting in second place in the Atlantic Division, one point behind division-leading WBS Penguins, who have 27 points after 18 games played. With this being the United States Thanksgiving threshold, from an AHL conference and league perspective, the Bruins sit comfortably in second in the east and fourth in the complete league with a 13-3-0 record and 26 points. Tonight’s matchup against the Toronto Marlies needs a bounce-back effort, and it’s crucial to start this five-game road trip on a winning note.
Tonight’s host, the Toronto Marlies, is currently in fifth place in the North Division with an 8-7-1-1 record and 18 points. On home ice at the Coca-Cola Coliseum, the Marlies have a record of 4-2-0-1, and are 5-4-1 in their last 10 games. The Marlies come into this evening’s action riding a two-game winning streak, with both victories at home, so killing that Toronto momentum will be significant to capture those positive road vibes. As close as these two AHL franchises are to one another, they don’t play each other often. Last season, Providence and Toronto split the two-game series, and over the previous three years, they have gone 3-3-0 against each other.
The Marlies’ heavy hitters in offensive production will be heavily relied on: team point leader and forward Travis Boyd, who leads the team with 7-6-13 in 15 games played. Boyd has two assists in his last six games, so he’ll be one to watch in an effort to get off the goalless slide. Toronto defenseman William Villeneuve is a threat from the Marlies’ backend, posting 2-9-11 numbers, and looks to extend his current two-game point streak. Forward Benoit-Olivier Groulx has 11 points in 17 games, while having only four points in his last five games. Alex Nylander has the fourth position in the Marlies’ scoring this season with 5-6-11 numbers in 14 games. The younger brother of NHL Leafs forward William Nylander is currently goalless in his last seven games.
With three days’ rest, it’s hard to imagine the Marlies not going with goaltender Artur Akhtyamov after going 2-0 at tonight’s Coca-Cola Colesium venue over this Saturday and Sunday, stopping 65 shots total in both home contests. The 24-year-old Russian native is 6-3-0 on the year with a 2.56 goals-against-average and .914 save percentage, and has only lost once in regulation in the last six games.
The Providence Bruins are still without point-leading forwards Matej Blumel and Riley Tufte as they remain with the parent Boston Bruins team as the four-game road trip comes to an end tonight with the NHL B’s on Long Island to face the Islanders. Providence needs to dig deep to get back on track offensively. In the last three games, the B’s have scored only three times, and that was in one game while getting shut out in the other two contests.
Providence players, such as forward Matt Poitras, need to start putting the puck in the back of the net with more consistency. After a four-assist game vs. Charlotte in the second game of the 2025-26 campaign, he’s never gotten on any roll offensively 1-3-3 in his last 14 games. Forward John Farinacci showed signs of his offensive capabilities to start the month of November with goals in three straight games, but has yet to produce a point in his last five regular-season contests. Forward Georgii Merkulov is another player who’s dropped his offensive production since going 5-5-10 in his first seven games, but now has one assist in his last nine contests. AHL Rookie forward Dans Locmelis has been another player on this Bruins roster slipping with offensive production. Locmelis, in his previous ten games, has 2-1-3.
Goaltending has never been an issue so far this season, and I expect Providence Head Coach Ryan Mougenel to go with Michael DiPietro tonight in game one of the upcoming five-game road trip. DiPietro is 7-2-0 with a 1.89 goals-against-average and .938 save percentage. After winning his first seven straight games to start 2025-26, the former Vancouver Canucks third-round draft pick looks to snap a recent two-game winless streak with the potential homecoming start as he and other Providence players from southern Ontario get their chance to play in front of family and friends in Toronto tonight at the Colesium.
With the Providence Bruins’ recent lack of offensive production, it should be interesting to see how the B’s lineup tonight responds to the practice sessions this week led by head coach Ryan Mougenel. As in every game this year, team captain Patrick Brown’s leadership continues to be heavily relied on as an extension of Mougenel’s bench, but it cannot be built on individual efforts alone. Contributions throughout the lineup will be needed offensively until potential reinforcements return from the NHL after this Boston road trip ends tonight on Long Island.
Purely speculating, but Bruins prospect forward Fabian Lysell may miss another game or two if he made the road trip at all. I haven’t been privy to the lower-body injury that longtime Providence hockey writer Mark Divver reported recently, but Divver did mention at a previous practice that the former first-round selection attended an on-ice session, then was off the ice minutes later, seen watching the remainder of the on-ice session from the stands. Divver is a reliable source and often releases the Providence game home and away roster, so if Lysell is not on the lineup release, it means the lower-body injury is still hindering him.
I haven’t heard this in my circles, but Elite Prospects’ Robert Chalmers posted on Twitter/X early this morning, saying he heard over the week that Fabian Lysell has changed agents and is now represented by the WeSport agency. This is year four of the Bruins’ prospects development over here in North America, and it’s clear that both sides are going through a pissing match with each other about NHL consistency and whether it’s earned or not. Now I’m no gumshoe, but if this rumor is true, it lays a breadcrumb trail for me that Lysell is looking to move on from the Bruins organization for a better NHL opportunity elsewhere.
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