In a game where there were three fights and more than a handful of skirmishes, the Providence Bruins remained focus and let their play decide the winner of last night’s contest against Lowell. The team managed to take a 2-0 lead in the 2nd period, after a scoreless 1st, thanks to the play of Trent Whitfield (1 G, 2 A) and Mikko Lehtonen (1G, 2A). The scoring outburst came after a very average 1st period where the team missed early scoring opportunities, including a couple of 3-on-2s. After that period, though, the Bruins controlled the game. Their first goal came off the Powerplay, where two great passes led to Mikko Lehtonen’s goal. Their second goal came off what was essentially a 2-on-1 break, where Lehtonen attacked a lone Lowell defender to his left, stopped, waited for the trailer, and hit Whitfield as he was cutting across the middle.

With more on Lehtonen’s performance, here’s Coach Murray,

Finishing the Game

Even though the P-Bruins controlled the game for the most part, they let the Devils get back into the game, thanks to a couple of unnecessary penalties early in the 3rd period. The penalties gave Lowell a 5-on-3 which they happily took advantage of, cutting the Bruins’ lead to 2-1. From this point on, Lowell was invigorated, but the Bruins managed to stay focused. With just over 8 minutes to go, Vladimir Sobotka took a pass from Whitfield, beat a defender while cutting across the front goal and went top corner stick side of the Devils goalie;  putting the Bruins up 2 goals and squashing any hopes of a Devils comeback. Hopefully, they can keep this momentum going when they face-off against Portland on Sunday at 4pm.

Coach Murray talks about the unnecessary penalties and putting teams away,

Notes:

• With the win the Bruins stop a 2-game losing streak and are 3-2-0-0 on the season.
• Both Lehtonen and Whitefield now have 3 goals on the season.
• Bruins Goalie Dany Sabourin had 29 saves
• Bruins went 2/9 on the Powerplay, making it 10 powerplay goals this season in just 5 games.