By: Jake Ferraro | Follow me on Twitter/X @18Jxxx18
The Providence Bruins headed to Connecticut’s capital for their 11th and final meeting of the season against the Hartford Wolf Pack, and also to begin their final three-game weekend of the 2025-26 American Hockey League Season. After sustaining a 2-1 overtime loss in its last game against the Rochester Americans last Saturday at Blue Cross Arena, Providence bounced back with a 4-1 win against Hartford at PeoplesBank Arena.
With the win, Providence improved to 52-14-2-0 overall on the season. Providence also won eight of the 11 meetings of the season against Hartford. From start to finish, Providence would dominate Hartford behind its goaltending and depth.
First Period
Providence defenseman Frederic Brunet had missed the team’s last seven games due to an upper-body injury. In his return to the lineup against Hartford, Brunet contributed immediately for Providence. At 7:45 into the first period, Brunet scored the opening goal of the game against Hartford goaltender Spencer Martin to give Providence a 1-0 lead. The goal was Brunet’s 12th goal of the season.
Providence continued to apply offensive pressure against Martin throughout the period, outshooting Hartford 12-6 for the period. Brunet’s goal would be the only goal of the period, as Providence led 1-0 heading into the first intermission.
Second Period
Providence got a golden opportunity when Hartford’s Trey Fix-Wolansky was called for a slashing penalty 1:47 into the second period. Forty-nine seconds into the power play, Georgii Merkulov capitalized by scoring his 22nd goal of the season to extend Providence’s lead to 2-0.
In the second period, Providence goaltender Michael DiPietro made one of his best saves of the season. With Hartford’s Bryce McConnell-Barker on a breakaway, DiPietro made a beautiful glove save to keep the game at 2-0.
Eager to score his second goal of the game, Brunet hit the post on a scoring opportunity, but the puck bounced perfectly to John Farinacci, and he buried it in the net to score his ninth goal of the season to extend Providence’s lead to 3-0 with 2:13 remaining in the period. Merkulov and Farinacci scored the two goals of the period to have Providence lead 3-0 heading into the second intermission.
Third Period
The third period was the most attacking for Hartford’s offense, as they finished with 12 shots on goal in the period. Hartford’s Brody Lamb broke DiPietro’s shutout with 3:29 remaining in regulation to cut Providence’s lead to 3-1. Providence would get an empty-net goal in the final seconds from Jake Schmaltz for a late insurance goal to seal the game, and it was his ninth goal of the season.
Including tonight and his last two starts against Hartford, DiPietro had a shutout streak of 149:55 combined, an impressive shutout streak over three games for a goaltender. DiPietro finished the game with 23 saves to earn his 33rd win of the season. Providence defenseman Christian Wolanin’s return to the lineup after missing the team’s last two games was also big, as he recorded two assists in the win.
A Chance to Avenge Last Saturday’s Loss
Tomorrow night, Providence will return home to continue its three-game weekend, and it’s another meeting against Rochester. Puck drop for tomorrow’s game is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET at Amica Mutual Pavilion.
Providence fell against Rochester last week in overtime, so tomorrow offers a chance to avenge the loss. Victor Soderstrom scored the only goal for Providence, and DiPietro made 19 saves in the overtime loss. Tomorrow is also the second and final meeting of the season for Providence against Rochester.
Leave a Reply