With the Boston Bruins season over, the team’s AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins, were still in their playoff run, playing in the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs after securing a first-round bye.
Unfortunately, the P-Bruins could not find the success they were looking for, dropping the best of five series three games to one to the Hartford Wolf Pack, the AHL affiliate of the New York Rangers. Let’s take a look at all four games.
Game one: Hartford leads series 1-0
This was a goaltenders’ duel, with Brandon Bussi of Providence and Dylan Garand of Hartford doing battle. The only shot that went through Bussi proved to be the difference, as Hartford prevailed 1-0 in the series opener. Bussi made 31 saves while Providence only got 14 shots on Garand, giving him his first Calder Cup playoffs shutout.
Game two: Hartford leads series 2-0
Playing at home once again, Providence couldn’t win, dropping game two by a 2-1 score to put their season on life support. Old friend Anton Blidh scored first for the Wolf Pack, and Adam Clendening scored to make it 2-0 Hartford.
Joona Koppanen got one back for Providence, but that was the only shot to get past Garand on the night, as he made 29 saves in the win. Bussi made 26 saves on 28 shots for Providence, who went 0-for-3 on the power play.
Game three: Hartford leads series 2-1
Providence had a strong showing on offense on the road, winning game three by a 6-3 score to force game four and keep their season alive. Justin Brazeau, a strong candidate for a contract with the Boston Bruins in some form thanks to his strong season in Providence, scored first, and Oskar Steen deflected a shot in to make it 2-0 Providence after 20 minutes.
With 5:57 left in the second period, Luke Toporowski scored a power play goal to make it 3-0 Providence. Hartford would add a goal before the end of the second.
After the Wolf Pack cut it to 3-2 in the third period, Jack Ahcan scored his first playoff goal on a breakaway to make it 4-2 Providence. After another Hartford goal made it 4-3, Brazeau and Vinni Lettieri scored empty net goals to seal a 6-3 Providence win.
Game four: Hartford wins series 3-1
Dylan Garand had another shutout in goal for the Wolf Pack, stopping all 32 shots he faced as the Wolf Pack advanced to face the Hershey Bears in the Atlantic Division Finals. The Providence power play went silent again, going 0-for-5 as Bussi made 28 saves on 31 shots.
Fabian Lysell and Jakub Lauko were out of the lineup due to injury, while defenseman Mike Callahan went down on a hard hit into the boards and had to be carted off the ice in the game. He was spotted outside the locker room postgame in good shape, walking around on his own power.
Team leaders
Brazeau led the team in points this series, collecting two goals and an assist. Toporowski collected two goals while Ahcan had a goal and an assist. Josiah Didier and Koppanen also had two assists.
In the regular season, Georgii Merkulov had 24 goals and 31 assists to lead the team, being held to just one assist in the playoffs. Lettieri had 23 goals and 26 assists, while Brazeau had 16 goals and 29 assists. Connor Carrick also collected a team leading 38 assists. Lysell had 14 goals and 23 assists in 54 games, while Mike Reilly had seven goals and 19 assists in 36 games.