By: Jake Ferraro | Follow me on Twitter/X @18Jxxx18
In their previous game, the Providence Bruins fell 4-3 to the Springfield Thunderbirds, snapping their three-game winning streak this past Sunday. Eager to start a new winning streak, Providence headed to Allentown, Pennsylvania, to play its final meeting of the season against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Providence had won all three meetings against Lehigh Valley before the fourth and final meeting, but it was too little too late for a rallying win for Providence. Lehigh Valley defeated Providence 6-3 at PPL Center, dropping Providence to 45-13-1-0 overall on the season. Providence got off to a slow start to begin the game against Lehigh Valley. While Providence would make it a game in the third period, the rally wasn’t meant to be.
First period
Providence forward Alexis Gendron was welcomed back by Lehigh Valley during the first timeout of the first period and received a nice hand from the fans and his former teammates. However, that was the only highlight of the period for Providence.
The first period would be a flat one for Providence. Lehigh Valley’s Lane Pederson beat Providence goaltender Michael DiPietro to score the first goal of the game with 3:39 remaining in the period to give Lehigh Valley a 1-0 lead, and despite Lehigh Valley’s Oliver Bonk taking two penalties, Providence failed on both of its powerplay opportunities.
Providence trailed 1-0 against Lehigh Valley heading into the first intermission.
Second period
Providence continued being flat early into the second period when Joey Abate was called for a holding the stick penalty. Then, Riley Duran was called for a penalty to give Lehigh Valley a 5-on-3 powerplay with 19 seconds. However, Providence successfully killed off both penalties, keeping the score at 1-0. Unfortunately, penalties resumed by Providence to keep giving Lehigh Valley momentum.
Matej Blumel was called for a tripping penalty that put Lehigh Valley back on the powerplay. Lehigh Valley capitalized when David Jiricek scored a powerplay goal to make it 2-0. Eleven seconds later, Brett Harrison scored to make it 3-0. Less than three minutes later, Christian Kyrou scored on a breakaway to make it 4-0. The three goals scored by Jiricek, Harrison, and Kyrou occurred in a span of 3:05.
With under 20 seconds remaining in the period, Abate scored a goal to break the ice for Providence, looking to get momentum back on its side. DiPietro got the secondary assist on Abate’s goal. Providence trailed 4-1 heading into the second intermission.
Third period
Thirty-eight seconds into the third period, Matthew Poitras kept the momentum on Providence’s side by scoring a goal to cut the deficit to 4-2. Then, 5:23 later, Duran scored to make it a 4-3 game. Momentum appeared to be on Providence’s side, then Oscar Eklind scored for Lehigh Valley 1:45 later after Duran’s goal to make it 5-3.
Eklind’s goal turned out to be the momentum killer for Providence as the team didn’t score for the remainder of the period. Anthony Richard added an empty-net goal to ice the game for Lehigh Valley. Lehigh Valley goaltender Aleksei Kolosov was better than DiPietro by making 28 saves to earn the win.
Abate and Gendron each recorded a two-point game, while DiPietro made 15 saves in the loss.
A look ahead to this weekend
Providence will return to action this weekend when they take on the Utica Comets in a back-to-back. The first game will be played in Utica at 7:05 p.m. ET at Adirondack Bank Center on Friday night. The second game will be played at 7:05 p.m. ET at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence. In the first and only meeting of the season, Providence won 3-2 in overtime back on Nov. 15, thanks to Dans Locmelis’ game-winning goal.
Leave a Reply