Sep 19, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins goalie Malcolm Subban (70) makes a save during the first period against the Detroit Red Wings at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
The Providence Bruins are hanging on to a playoff berth in the 2013-14 season. They have bounced around the lower end of the playoff seeds, not finding a solid footing as of late. In the last few weeks, the P-Bruins have been vacillating between fifth and eighth place in the Eastern Conference. The baby B’s have won their last three games in a row,(and are 5-3-1-1 in their last ten games) and have worked their way back up to sixth place.
A lot of credit has to be given to the Providence squad. They’ve often lost their best players for extended stretches to help their NHL Bruins fill in holes, especially on their blueline.This has made the P-Bruins to work that much harder to maintain momentum going into the post-season. The Bruins have been led by twenty year old Alexander Khokhlachev who leads all Bruins with fifty-three points. He’s got nineteen goals, five of them earned on the power play. He was the player of the month last month in Providence, and has been a solid player in all ends for the Black and Gold.
Khokhlachev will likely be invited to next year’s training camp. He’s earned an opportunity to swap out the ‘P’ for a ‘B’ next season.
The strength of the P-Bruins is based mainly in their goaltending. Both Providence goaltenders are in the top thirty in the league. Currently, Malcolm Subban is in the top twenty and while his ascension to the Boston Bruins is likely several seasons away, he’s giving the home office good reasons to be happy with the Bruins organizational depth in the crease. Subban’s got twenty nine games in the crease with a record of 14-8-4(SOL) and one shutout. In the nearly seventeen hundred minutes guarding the net, he’s earned a .918 save percentage (good enough for twelfth overall), and a 2.40 goals against average. He brings the family pedigree to the team, and with his brother PK on the Montreal Canadiens, it adds another facet to one of the oldest and ugliest rivalries in hockey.
The other half of the Bruins crease team is Niklas Svedberg, who had a chance to showcase his skills at the Boston level. In his forty one games, he’s gone 22-15-3(SOL) with two shutouts. His save percentage is .907%, and has a 2.76 goals against average. These two gentlemen have been keeping the Bruins in the hunt while a number of Providence squad have been seeing time in Boston. They’ll still have to be careful though, there are several teams in reach of them and they’ll need to play to the finish to avoid of being kept out of the post season.