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After Impressive Weekend Sweep, P-Bruins Aim to Win Four Straight for First Time This Season

Written by Chris Krenn

Feb 22, 2022

It was arguably the best three-game stretch of the season for the Providence Bruins this past weekend as the team won three games in as many days over two separate division rivals in the Hershey Bears and Hartford Wolf Pack. Providence opened the weekend with a 5-0 home win over Hershey on Friday night before traveling to Hartford on Saturday and defeating the Wolf Pack, 3-1. The P-Bruins returned home for a Sunday afternoon rematch with Hershey and walked away with a 4-1 win over the Bears.

 

Despite a strong first half of the season, this past weekend's three straight wins matches the longest win streak of the season for the P-Bruins, a feat Providence has now accomplished three times this year. The team will aim to win four games in a row for the first time this season when they take on the Charlotte Checkers this Friday, February 25, at Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

 

The 5-0 win on Friday marked the second largest margin of victory for Providence this season, with the 7-1 win over the Springfield Thunderbirds on January 2 serving as the P-Bruins biggest win of the year.

 

Jesper Froden led the way for the P-Bruins on Friday, scoring a goal and adding two assists for his first career three-point game. A native of Stockholm, Sweden, the 27-year-old signed a one-year contract with the Bruins in June and played his first pro game in North America with the P-Bruins on October 16.

 

Since then, Froden has played an integral role in the success of the P-Bruins. He currently ranks second on the team with 12 goals and 27 points, and fourth on the team with 15 assists. He also leads the P-Bruins with six power-play goals. Two of those six power-play goals came this past weekend, including an impressive tally with Froden showcasing his soft hands at the edge of Hershey's crease.

 

 

Froden went on to score another power-play goal on Sunday against Hershey and finished the weekend with four points (2G, 2A) in three games.

 

Two Providence skaters managed to put up more points than Froden this weekend with Cameron Hughes and Eduards Tralmaks each recording five points. Tralmaks scored three goals and added two assists while Hughes picked up one goal with four helpers.

 

Hughes lone goal came shorthanded on Friday night, making a nice play to fight off a Hershey defender and kick the puck forward with his skate before finding the five hole of Bears goaltender Zach Fucale on the breakaway.

 

 

After the five-point weekend, Hughes took sole possession of the team lead in points (29) and assists (21). The Edmonton, Alberta native finished last season leading the P-Bruins in points (21) and assists (16) as well. Hughes added an assist on Friday night before picking up three helpers on Sunday against the Bears for the third three-point game of his career. Two of the three assists on Sunday were primary helpers with the secondary assist coming on a crisp passing play between Hughes, Chris Wagner, and the goal scorer, Jack Ahcan.

 

 

Alongside the impressive performances of Froden and Hughes was the whale of a weekend from Tralmaks, who now sits tied for fourth on the team in goals with nine in 28 games. His .32 goals per game ranks fourth on the team, trailing only Zach Senyshyn, Oskar Steen, and Froden. He also leads Providence in plus-minus with an impressive plus-14 rating, which is tied for second-best amongst all AHL rookies.

 

Tralmaks opened the scoring in Friday’s 5-0 win over Hershey with what would eventually serve as the game-winning goal. After Steven Fogarty impressively beat four separate Hershey Bears in a puck battle along the wall, he fed a backhand pass to Tralmaks, who had come barreling into the zone from the Providence bench before firing a blistering wrist shot top shelf.

 

 

Tralmaks stayed hot when the P-Bruins traveled to Hartford on Saturday, once again scoring the game-opening goal on a nice give-and-go with Joona Koppanen. Tralmaks returned the favor on the second goal of the game, feeding Koppanen at the left circle before he ripped home his sixth goal of the year.

 

After Hartford scored near the halfway point of the second period to make it a 2-1 game, the P-Bruins pushed forward and answered with a power-play goal at the 16:36 mark. Tralmaks fed a neutral zone pass to Samuel Asselin, who weaved into the Hartford end before finding an open Joona Koppanen, who blasted a slap shot home for his second and final goal of the game.

 

Koppanen took home first star honors with two goals and an assist while Tralmaks was named second star with one goal and two helpers.

 

While Tralmaks was unable to open the scoring in Sunday’s game against Hershey, he did score the first goal of the game for the P-Bruins. With a rowdy crowd of 9,190 at Dunkin’ Donuts Center, Tralmaks got the fans on their feet after taking a beautiful cross-ice pass from Justin Brazeau before shifting to his backhand and burying his ninth goal of the season and third in as many games.

 

Providence never looked back after that point, scoring three straight goals to close out the weekend sweep with a 4-1 win. Perhaps the most surprising offensive contributor for the P-Bruins on Sunday was goaltender Troy Grosenick, who recorded his first career multi-point game with two assists on the night.

 

Grosenick’s first assist of the game came on Senyshyn’s goal late in the second period. Grosenick swiped the puck to the corner to Cameron Hughes, who flew up the ice before recording his first of three assists with a nice saucer pass to Senyshyn, who scored his team-leading 14th goal on the backhand.

 

Grosenick’s second assist came on the power play with a quick, heads-up pass to Hughes, who found Froden for his 12th goal of the season. After Hershey cleared the puck, Grosenick quickly came out of his crease to catch the Bears in the middle of a change and advance the puck to Hughes before Froden scored his team-leading sixth power-play goal of the season.

 

 

Not shockingly, Grosenick did more than contribute in the offensive department over the weekend. The veteran netminder stopped 64 of 65 shots in both games against Hershey with Friday’s 5-0 win marking his second shutout of the season.

 

While the offense may have been clicking for Providence, the weekend’s games may have been closer if not for some spectacular saves from Grosenick, perhaps none bigger than Friday’s 10-bell save on Hershey’s Axel Jonsson-Fjallby.

 

 

Grosenick has been a great addition this season for the P-Bruins after Dan Vladar was traded last July and Jeremy Swayman got the call-up to the big club in Boston. Grosenick has appeared in 17 games for Providence, recording an 11-3-1 record with a 2.20 goals against average, .922 save percentage, and the aforementioned two shutouts.

 

His 2.20 GAA ranks fourth in the league while his .922 save percentage is tied for fifth. Only three goalies in the AHL have recorded more than two shutouts and all of them have played in three or more games than Grosenick. The Brookfield, Wisconsin native is also one of just four goalies in the league to stop every shot he has faced in shootouts this season (7/7).

 

With another three-in-three looming this weekend, Providence will surely rely on Grosenick’s strong goaltending to continue to serve as a strength for the team.

 

The P-Bruins will open the weekend with a home game on Friday against the Charlotte Checkers, a team they haven’t seen since late October when Providence walked away with a 4-3 win at Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

 

Charlotte comes to Providence having won four of their last five games, all of which were played at home. Charlotte’s top scorer this season is forward Kole Lind. A former second-round pick (33rd overall) by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, Lind was selected by the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft.

 

Lind has been on a tear for Charlotte since the start of the new year. The Shaunavon, Saskatchewan native is currently riding a seven-game point streak in which he has scored four goals and added five assists for nine points. Over his last 16 contests, Lind has picked up 18 points with nine goals and nine assists, recording at least one point in 14 of those 16 games.

 

The P-Bruins will also have to keep an eye on rookie Logan Hutsko, who ranks second on the Checkers with 32 points (9G, 23A) in 47 games. His 23 helpers rank tied for seventh amongst all AHL rookies.

 

Providence could get a look at former BC Eagle Spencer Knight in goal. The 13th overall selection in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, Knight has played in six games with Charlotte this season, logging a 5-1-0 record with one shutout, a 2.33 GAA, and a .923 SV%. Since 2000, only 16 goaltenders have been selected in the first round of the Draft, including the likes of Carey Price, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Marc-Andre Fleury. Just 20 years old, Knight already has 22 career NHL regular season starts under his belt. He also appeared in two playoff games last season, recording a .933 SV% and 2.06 GAA.

 

Following their matchup with Charlotte, the P-Bruins will travel to Hartford again for a Saturday night matchup before returning home and facing the Wolf Pack again at 3:05 PM on Sunday afternoon.

 

Providence has performed well against Hartford this season, winning four of the last five matchups. The two teams have faced off seven times this season and the P-Bruins have walked away from every contest with at least one point, with all three losses coming in overtime or the shootout.

 

The Wolf Pack are led by their captain, Jonny Brodzinski, a former fifth-round pick (148th overall) by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. Brodzinski has 34 points (17G, 17A) in 33 games this season, including a nine-game goal and point streak from December 18, 2021 – Febrauary 5, 2022, in which he totaled nine goals and six assists for 15 points. The nine-game goal streak set a Wolf Pack franchise record for the Ham Lake, Minnesota native, who has recorded at least one point in 24 of 33 games for Hartford this season.

 

 

Providence will likely get another look at rookie defenseman Zac Jones, who was sent down to Hartford on February 21. Jones has had an impressive season with 18 points (4G, 14A) in 27 games for Hartford. Jones was drafted in the third round (68th overall) of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers. 

 

Other names to watch out for on the Wolf Pack include Patrick Khodorenko and Anthony Greco. Both Khodorenko and Greco have scored one goal and added two assists for three points each against Providence this season.

 

Tickets for this weekend's games against Charlotte and Hartford can be purchased by clicking here.

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