| 14 November 2011
The Providence Bruins hauled themselves back to .500 after winning two of three games this weekend, beating Manchester in an exciting goalie duel on Friday, losing to Portland on Saturday, and beating Worcester 3-2 on Sunday.
It took some late-game heroics from Maxime Sauve on Friday, as well as 30 saves from an on-his-game Anton Khudobin as the P-Bruins were able to kill off three penalties. The penalty kill has climbed from the basement of the league into a respectable 11th place, although the power play remains 30th in the league, converting on only 7.4% of chances.
On Saturday, the P-Bruins weren't quite as successful. Portland took an early lead on a Nathan Oystrick power play goal, and in the second period, 2011 Hobey Baker Award winner Andy Miele fired home another shot past Providence goalie Michael Hutchinson to make it 2-0. Colin Long tallied a third, and Portland took their 3-0 lead into the final frame.
Providence finally solved goaltender Justin Pogge four minutes into the third period, as Carter Camper scored his third goal of the season off a Maxime Sauve assist. They pulled within one 12 seconds later, as Camper fed Kirk MacDonald for the second goal of the game. It wasn't enough, though, and Portland added an empty-netter for a final score of 4-2. Providence goaltender Michael Hutchinson stopped 23 of 26 shots and Providence, again, failed to capitalize on four power play opportunities.
Sunday, the P-Bruins returned to the DCU Center in Worcester for the third of 12 season tilts against the baby Sharks, improving their record against that team to 2-1-0.
The score remained even at 0 after the first period, despite the P-Bruins being outshot 15-6; as the period ended, the Bruins' Kevan Miller and the Sharks' Curt Gogol and Mike Connolly were assessed roughing penalties after the clock ran out. The P-Bruins opened it up in the second period, as Zach Hamill, in his first game back after his callup to Boston, waited out Worcester's Hari Sateri and slammed home a feed from Zach McKelvie from behind the net. Benn Ferriero tied it up a few moments later.
Kevan Miller proved Coach Bruce Cassidy's "every game, someone's getting their first professional goal, it seems" statement right once more, as he took advantage of a strong defensive play by Calle Ridderwall and snuck one past Sateri for...his first professional goal. Despit surrendering another goal and a lot of chippy, defensive zone play in the third, Camper scored by tipping in an Andrew Bodnarchuk slapper for the game winner seventeen seconds after the Sharks tied it up.
Khudobin made 47 saves in the game. The P-Bruins were perfect on the PK and useless once again on the power play, going 4 for 4 on the former and 0 for 4 on the latter. The power play should be one thing to focus on for this team as they prepare to face the Springfield Falcons on Friday night.
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