By: Mark Allred | Follow me on Twitter @BlackAndGold277
Last night, the American Hockey League’s Providence Bruins got their third straight win, beating the visiting Bridgeport Islanders by a score of 4-1 at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. With last night’s victory on home ice in front of the 6,642 faithful in attendance, the National Hockey League Boston Bruins’ AHL affiliate is now tied for first place in the Atlantic Division with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins with 49 points. After 31 games played so far in this 2025-26 regular season campaign, Providence has a 24-6-1 record and currently sits in the second spot in the Eastern Conference.
Goaltender Michael DiPietro got his third straight start in net last night since returning from a lower-body injury to stop 24 of 25 Islanders shots for his 13th victory of the season, only losing four contests on the year. The 26-year-old netminder currently has a 1.81 goals-against-average and a .937 save percentage.
After a first period that only saw one goal scored courtesy of Bridgeport forward Cam Thiesing, the Providence team came alive on the scoresheet, scoring two goals in the second and third periods. The first Bruins goal was scored by forward Dans Locmelis at the 15:34 mark of the second period. It was his 13th goal of the season, assisted by forwards John Farinacci and Brett Harrison. For Locmelis, this was his fourth tally in his last three games, and the Latvian native now has 5-2-7 in his last five games. With the helpers on the Locmelis goal, Farinacci snapped a three-game pointless streak, and Harrison snapped a two-game pointless streak.
The second Providence goal of the game came about a minute later when Bruins defenseman Christian Wolanin scored his second goal of the season at the 16:26 mark of the middle frame. The helpers on Wolanin’s goal went to defenseman Frederic Brunet and forward Matt Poitras. Poitras snapped a three-game pointless streak and now has 2-3-5 numbers in his last five games. Freddy Brunet also extended his point streak to two games with the assist on the veteran Wolanin’s goal.
In the third period at the 5:28 mark, defenseman Victor Soderstrom scored his third goal of the season, giving his Providence team a 3-1 lead. The assists on the B’s third goal of the game went to forwards Fabian Lysell and Matej Blumel. For Lysell, he extended his point streak to two games and has 0-6-6 numbers in his last five games. Blumel’s secondary helper was his second point in three games since his return to the lineup after recovering from an injury while he was with the NHL Bruins team on a recall.
The final goal of the game for the Providence team at the AMP last night came via an empty net goal courtesy of Matej Blumel, who earned his fourth multi-point game of the season. The assists on Blumel’s goal on the yawning net went to Fabian Lysell, who completed his seventh multi-point game of the season. Matt Poitras got the secondary helper, giving him his fourth multi-point game of the season.
Last night’s contest for the Providence team was the first of three games in a three-day weekend schedule of the season. The AHL Bruins get back at it tonight when they’re on the road in Hartford, Connecticut, to face the host Hartford Wolf Pack. Hartford currently has a regular-season record of 11-16-4-1 and sits in the second-to-last (7th Place) position in the Atlantic Division. The Wolf Pack is 6-7-1-1 on the road this season and is 3-6-0-1 in the team’s last ten games. Hartford lost to the Springfield Thunderbirds last night when they were on the road in Springfield, Massachusetts, against the fellow Atlantic foe.
If you would like to see the AHL Providence Bruins live and in person, either at home or on the road, please consider using our official StubHub Ticket-affiliated link HERE. This link is also good for other popular North American sports events or concerts in your local area.
Leave a Reply