AHL: Providence Bruins off to a Hot Start

The Providence Bruins are 4-0-0-0 to start the young American Hockey League season. They’ve beaten Bridgeport twice, the first to open the season, 3-2 in overtime, then Friday night, 5-3. They beat the defending Eastern Conference Champion Charlotte Checkers 6-3, then last night defeated the Hartford Wolf Pack 5-2. To start the season, they’re averaging 4.8 goals per game while allowing 2.5 goals per game. The hot start comes despite having the 20th-ranked penalty kill, which is at 76.9% but boasting a power-play that ranks in the top five in the league at 40%.

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Providence Bruins Scoring

The Bruins have six players who rank in the top 12 in the AHL in points and seven who rank in the top 17 in the league. Georgii Merkulov leads the way with seven points on two goals and five assists. Fabian Lysell, Alex Steeves, and Matej Blumel each have six points. Steeves and Lysell have three goals and three assists, while Blumel has two goals and four assists. Next is Riley Tufte and Patrick Brown. Tufte has five points on three goals and two assists, while Brown has two goals and three assists. Finally, Matthew Poitras, who has five points, all on assists. Lysell, Steeves, and Tufte are tied for fifth in the league in goals; Merkulov and Poitras are tied for second in the league in assists.

Providence Bruins Power-Play

Alex Steeves is tied for second in the league in power-play goals with two. He’s accounted for two of the six power-play goals scored by Providence in 16 chances. The other four goals have come from Blumel, Brown, Merkulov, and Tufte.

Providence Bruins Goaltending

Each goalie has appeared in two games for Providence. Simon Zajicek has led the way early on, posting a 1.99 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage. Michael DiPietro, in his two games, has posted a 3.01 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage.

Next Up:

Providence next week will have the Springfield Thunderbirds coming to town on Friday night with a 7:05 PM EST puck drop. Then on Sunday, Bridgeport comes to town after the Bruins faced them twice on the road to start the season.