AHL Game Recap: Providence Evens Series

The Springfield Thunderbirds and Providence Bruins met in game two of their best-of-five series tonight at Amica Mutual Pavilion. The Thunderbirds took the first game of the series on Friday night, 3-2. The win was Springfield’s third straight after they lost the first game of the playoffs to Charlotte 8-1. Georgi Romanov got the start for Springfield. In the playoffs, he is 3-0-0 with a 1.54 goals-against average and a .946 save percentage. Michael DiPietro stopped 23 of the 26 shots he faced in Friday’s loss to Springfield.

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Springfield Thunderbirds vs. Providence Bruins

First Period

Providence had the best chance to open the scoring, but Romanov kept them out and kept the game scoreless. Riley Tufte had a great chance 4.5 minutes into the game, but Romanov looked locked in and kept the puck out. Springfield turned the puck over, and Riley Duran had a great chance, but the goalie kept the puck out once again.. Chris Wagner, off the bench, had a breakaway chance, but he hit the post. Providence would score first as Romanov lost the rebound off a blocked shot, and Matej Blumel scored his second goal of the series to make it 1-0 Bruins.

Springfield would get a power play just under 11 minutes in as Matthew Poitras went to the box for tripping. Springfield, 38 seconds into the power play, would tie it up as Dillon Dube beat DiPietro on a great pass from Hugh McGing that fed Dube. Providence would take the lead back as Joey Abate fed Georgii Merkulov, and the Providence all-time leading points scorer put the puck past Romanov to make it 2-1 Bruins. That’s how the opening period would end, and the Bruins outshot the Thunderbirds 13-8.

Second Period 

Less than two minutes into the middle period, Providence got a power play chance as Marc-André Gaudet went to the box for holding. Springfield was able to kill off that penalty. Just over six minutes into the period, officials called Calle Rosen for hooking. The penalty killers handled that chance, but tensions rose as Tufte and Frederic Brunet each took roughing minors, and Chris Wagner’s roughing penalty gave Springfield a power play. The penalty killers shut that opportunity down as well, then officials sent Gaudet to the box for cross-checking with 4:41 left in the second.

Just 48 seconds into the power play, the referee called Patrick Brown for tripping, ending the advantage and making it 4-on-4. It then became a 4-on-3 as Otto Stenberg went for tripping. The middle period continued to get extra chippy as Springfield got a penalty as Billy Sweezey went to the box for roughing. The period ended with 1:19 left on the Thunderbirds’ power play. Providence still led 2-1 and outshot Springfield 12-6 in the period.

Third Period

Providence killed off the penalty to start the period. Zach Dean then got called for high-sticking. Just before one minute into the penalty, Tufte went for slashing. Both penalties were killed off. Jake Schmaltz got called for tripping, giving Springfield another power-play. The penalty got killed off. Springfield had their chances in the final two minutes to even the game, but they couldn’t beat DiPietro, and Providence takes game two 2-1. The Thunderbirds outshot Providence 14-6 in the final period.

Wrap Up

Romanov stopped 29 of the 31 shots he faced. DiPietro stopped 27 of the 28 shots he faced finishing as the games first star. Frederic Brunet was the second star with two assists. Merkulov was the third star with his goal.

Next Up

The next game will be on Tuesday night at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, MA. Puck drop is set for 7:05 PM EST.