By: Mark Allred | Follow me on Twitter @BlackAndGold277
Today, the American Hockey League’s Providence Bruins got a 3-1 home victory over the visiting Springfield Thunderbirds at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. The Bruins improve to 23-6-1 on the season, along with 47 points, which is currently tied for the Atlantic Division lead with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, who were not in action today.
Providence goaltender Michael DiPietro got the victory for the B’s in his second game this weekend, as he’s freshly coming off a return to the lineup after spending three weeks on the shelf with a lower-body injury. DiPietro stopped 16 of 17 Thunderbirds shots for his 12th victory of the season and wins in his last two appearances.
The Bruins’ goals in this game came from forward prospect Dans Locemelis, who scored his 12th goal of the season on the power play, tying visiting Springfield at the 13:35 mark of the first period. The assists on Locmelis’ 12th went to forward Fabian Lysell and forward Goergii Merkulov, who extended his point streak to five games with the secondary helper. After the two goals in the first period, both teams would lock it down with a back-and-forth defensive battle for a better part of 40 minutes, with Providence coming away on the good side.
With both teams deadlocked at zero apiece, Providence Bruins defenseman Frederic Brunet was slapping his stick on the ice like a beaver tail out in the wild for the puck and an opportunity for the go-ahead goal. Well, after calling for the biscuit, Brunet, a third-year professional, accepted the puck and blasted it from the blueline into the net for the 2-1 lead. That was the fifth goal of the season for Brunet, with the primary assist on the goal going to forward Dans Locmelis, who extended his point streak to two games, where he has 3-1-4, but also earned his sixth multi-point game of the 2025-26 campaign. The secondary assist went to defenseman Ty Gallagher, who has a goal and an assist in his last five games.
The final goal of the game came via a Riley Tufte empty-net goal, his 11th of the season, which gives the big man three points in the last two games. The helpers on the final tally of the game went to Providence Captain Patrick Brown, who has points in his last five games, and defenseman Billy Sweezey, who snapped a two-game pointless streak.
Mougenel Named to Represent the Atlantic Division at the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic
With the victory today at the AMP, the AHL officially named Providence Bruins Head Coach Ryan Mougenel will represent the league’s Atlantic Division in the upcoming 2026 All-Star Classic. This year’s festivities will be held in Rockford, Illinois, on Tuesday, February 10th, with the AHL Skills Challenge, and Wednesday, February 11th, at the BMO Center with the All-Star Classic game.
Mougenel is in his fifth season as the bench boss of the top minor-pro affiliate of the Boston Bruins. After leaving the San Jose Sharks organization, where he was an assistant coach with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda, the Scarborough, Ontario native joined the Providence Bruins organization in the 2018-19 season, where he would stay for the next three seasons.
Before the 2021-22 regular season, the Providence organization named Mougenel as the team’s 12th head coach in the club’s history. Since taking the bench boss reins, Mougenel has, as of now, head-coached the Providence team to a 186-93-39 record in 318 games.
The next game for the Providence Bruins is set for this Friday night at the AMP in Providence as the fellow Atlantic Division member, Bridgeport Islanders, come to the Ocean State. If you’d like tickets to this home game or any other Providence Bruins game or higher Boston Bruins throughout the 2025-26 regular season, please consider using our official StubHub Tickets affiliate link HERE when you make your next purchase for concerts or sporting events.
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