( Photo Credit: Providence Bruins / Flickr )

By Carrie Young | Follow me on Twitter @carrieyoung512

The Providence Bruins faced off against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers for the third time this season on Monday afternoon, with Providence leading the season series two games to none. The Bruins came into the game ranked second in the Atlantic Division with a record of 8-5-0-2. Providence was looking to bounce back from a 2-1 loss to Hartford on Sunday but would have to play without defenseman Urho Vaakanainen, as he was called up to Boston this morning due to an injury to Torey Krug. Bridgeport entered Monday’s game on a two-game losing streak and ranked last in the division.

Starting Lineups

Providence:

Hughes – Frederic – Steen

Zboril – Didier

Lagace

Bridgeport:

Bourque – McDonald – Kubiak

Burroughs – Wotherspoon

Gibson

Game Recap

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First Period

The Bruins started slowly, unable to establish an attacking rhythm or challenge Sound Tigers goalie Christopher Gibson.

Bridgeport’s Arnaud Durandeau scored the first goal of the game at 6:31, assisted by Mason Jobst and Sebastien Aho. There wasn’t much that Max Lagace could do about the well-played rush, letting in just his second goal in three games.

Despite one power play for each team, the rest of the period was scoreless. Bridgeport outshot Providence 11-8.

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Second Period

The Bruins began the second period with a few seconds of carryover power play time. They were given their second man-advantage of the game 2:05 in as Sound Tigers Hickey was called for elbowing but were unable to convert. Bridgeport was whistled for yet another penalty just one second after they killed off the previous one. This time, the power play was cut short, with Robert Lantosi heading off for a trip 46 seconds in. Yet another penalty was called seconds before Kieffer Bellows exited the box, and Bridgeport headed to a 5-on-3 advantage. Providence did a good job killing the penalties off and had a shorthanded scoring chance that they weren’t quite able to convert.

Providence was nabbed for their third offensive-zone penalty of the game at 10:19 of the second. The penalty kill stayed perfect, with Lagace looking solid in net.

Simon Holmstrom scored with 4:57 remaining to put Bridgeport up 2-0. Rookie Oliver Wahlstrom provided the primary assist, his second point in two games against Providence.

Frederic was sent to the box for slashing five seconds after the center-ice face-off following Holmstrom’s goal. The Providence penalty kill remained strong, and after failing to convert on a late power play, the Bruins went to the second intermission down by two.

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Third Period

The Bruins seemed to have a jump in their step at the beginning of the third period. After largely failing to generate offense in the first 40 minutes, Providence was able to spend more time in the Sound Tigers’ zone, leading to their fifth power play of the game when Trent Frederic was tripped up on a rush to the net. They were unable to get one past Gibson.

Both goalies were excellent in the third. Lagace made some challenging saves from in close, and Gibson robbed Frederic twice on a breakaway. After mustering just 15 shots through the first two periods, Providence peppered Gibson with 17 shots in the third.

Providence had one more chance on the power play with just under 8 minutes remaining in the game as Steen was hauled down while trying to exit the Bruins zone. It proved to be short-lived, with Oskar Steen committing a penalty of his own 44 seconds later. Despite pulling Lagace for an extra attacker with over 4 minutes left, the Bruins couldn’t convert and were shut out. It was the first time they were unable to score so far this season.

The Bruins are now 8-6-0-2. Their next game is this Friday at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center against the Hartford Wolf Pack