By: Mark Allred | Follow me on Twitter / X @BlackAndGold277
The American Hockey League’s Providence Bruins saw their four-game winning streak snapped on Saturday night, falling 5-2 to the Belleville Senators at CIBC Place in Belleville, Ontario. With the loss, Providence, the top minor-league affiliate of the National Hockey League Boston Bruins, remains in fifth place in the Atlantic Division, holding a 6-7-0 record and 12 points through 13 games.
The Bruins’ road record now stands at 4-3-0, and they’re 6-4-0 in their last ten games. Despite the setback, Providence is 3-1 in its current six-game road swing, which wraps up with back-to-back contests against the division-leading Charlotte Checkers this Tuesday and Wednesday night’s in North Carolina.
Goaltender Jiri Patera got the nod in net for Providence, stopping 27 of 32 shots faced. The 27-year-old netminder’s three-game winning streak ended with the loss, dropping his regular-season record to 3-4-0 with one shutout. Patera also carries a 2.45 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage in seven games this season, ranking him 34th in wins, 20th in GAA, and 19th in Save%.
The Bruins found themselves chasing the game early, a recurring theme so far in the 2026-27 campaign. Belleville struck first at 13:51 of the opening period when forward Kasper Halttunen notched his tenth goal of the season on the power play, assisted by Christian Kyrou and Philippe Daoust.
Providence responded quickly in the second period, tying the game just 42 seconds in as Dans Locmelis buried his second goal of the year with assists from Riley Duran and Ivan Ivan. The helpers extended point streaks for both Duran and Ivan, who have each found the scoresheet in consecutive games.
Belleville regained the lead midway through the second, with Blake Montgomery scoring his second of the season, assisted by Ryan Suzuki and Djibriil Toure. The Senators doubled their advantage less than six minutes later when Tyler Boucher tallied his fourth of the season, with Xavier Bourgault and Eskild Bakke Olsen getting the assists.
Locmelis struck again for Providence at 12:10 of the second, netting his third of the year and second of the night to cut the deficit, with Henri Jokiharju providing the lone assist—ending a five-game pointless streak for the defenseman. However, Belleville answered immediately, with Lucas Ellinas capitalizing on a Providence turnover just 16 seconds later, scoring unassisted on a breakaway to restore a two-goal cushion.
The Senators put the game out of reach early in the third period. Montgomery collected his second goal of the night and third of the season at 4:45, converting unassisted to make it 5-2. That proved to be the final tally, as Belleville locked the game down defensively, securing the victory.
Providence will look to rebound as their road trip concludes with a pair of critical Atlantic Division matchups against the first-place Charlotte Checkers on November 10th and 11th at Bojangles Coliseum, with both puck drops set for 7pm. The Atlantic-leading Checkers currently have an 8-5-1 regular season record and are 3-2-1 at home.
Charlotte is 0-1-1-0 in their last two games and 6-3-1 in the last ten. Both Charlotte and Providence are off until they meet this Tuesday night down in North Carolina. The Bruins could make up some ground on the division-leading Checkers, who have 17 points on the season, just five points ahead of the Providence team.
In the first of eight meetings this season, Providence beat Charlotte 6-2 on Saturday, October 10th at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. Last year, the Bruins swept the Checkers in four regular-season games and have a 15-3-3 record against the Florida Panthers’ top minor-pro affiliate over the past five seasons.
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