A Big Weekend for the Providence Bruins: 3 Wins, All By 3-2 Margins

This past weekend for the Providence Bruins saw them playing three games on three consecutive nights, which is normal for AHL teams, but the P-Bruins have not been very good at winning all three games in a long weekend so far this season. Usually, they come close–winning two in a row, perhaps, but dropping the third. However, this past weekend, the Peebs did something big.

Not only did they win all three games on Dec. 7, 8 and 9, but they won all of them by a 3-2 score.

It began on Dec. 7 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center when the Manchester Monarchs (Los Angeles Kings) came into town. In the first of the trio of 3-2 victories, Torey Krug scored his first professional goal and Kyle MacKinnon added the other two.

Krug, a defenseman who signed as a free agent with the Bruins this past spring after finishing up at Michigan State University, has played 20 games this season for Providence and put up five assists. During his three years with Michigan State, he often posted very high offense stats for a defenseman, including a 34-point campaign in 2011-12 with 38 games played. His most productive season to date was with the USHL Indiana Ice in 2008-09, when he had 47 points in the regular season and seven more in the playoffs as the Ice won the Clark Cup.

Plus, Bobby Robins got a 10-minute misconduct layered atop a five-minute fighting major due to what the scoresheet calls “Jersey (46.12)”–did someone forget to secure his fight strap before hitting the ice? Whoops!

The next day, the buzzing P-Bruins traveled to Worcester, Mass. to face the Worcester Sharks (San Jose Sharks). Much of the scoring came in the third period, when Providence got on the board with a Jamie Tardif goal, Worcester took the lead back and then Providence knotted it up again with a goal by Matt Bartkowski. It took a six-round shootout to settle this one and Maxime Sauve was the only one to score.

Back in the Dunk on Dec. 9, the Adirondack Phantoms (Philadelphia Flyers) paid a visit. Speaking of visitors, Tyler Seguin was in the crowd, having come back from Switzerland for a short visit as the Swiss league takes a break for various international competitions. Tardif scored twice and then, a minute and change into overtime, MacKinnon struck again to get the win.

These wins have really helped the P-Bruins get ahead in the standings. They now sit at sixth place in the Eastern Conference and second place in the Atlantic Division–where, not too long ago, they were in dead last place.

Another three-game weekend awaits. Dec. 14 will see the Springfield Falcons (Columbus Blue Jackets), a surprisingly gifted team that is perched atop the East, come into town. On Dec. 15, the P-Bruins go to Albany, N.Y. to face the last-in-the-East Albany Devils (New Jersey Devils). Then, Dec. 16 has the P-Bruins coming back to Rhode Island to welcome the 10th-place St. John’s IceCaps (Winnipeg Jets).