Bruins Battle the Pirates and Win 2-1
11-17-2012: Niklas Svedberg stops Pirates’ Alex Bolduc from scoring. (Photo Courtesy: Ron Morin/Ron’s Sports Photography)
Tonight the Providence Bruins shipped up to Portland, Maine to take on the Portland Pirates in their first meeting of the season. Last year the Bruins took the season series against Portland with a 6-4-0-0 record.
The Bruins went into the first looking to add another victory under their belt and opened up the scoring as Torey Krug snapped a wrister past Mark Visentin, giving them an early lead in the first. A lead that would carry over into the second period.
The Pirates contained the opening draw of the second, but found themselves in the penalty box rather than on the ice, trading penalties with Providence back and forth. The scoreboard wouldn’t change until 12:00 into the period when Ryan Spooner capitalized on a Chris Bourque pass giving the Bruins a 2-goal lead and himself his 11th point of the season.
The third period is when the score sheet changed a little, first with Torey Krug‘s goal being credited to Bobby Robins and Krug picking up the assist. Krug would have had his first goal of the season and added to Providence;s scoring depth, but under review it was determined Robins tipped it in. However, someone new had to land on the score sheet and Pirates’ Phil Lane did just that as he scored his first ever professional goal going top shelf on Niklas Svedberg, cutting the Bruins lead to 1. As the clock dwindled down so did the Bruins opportunities, Svedberg making the save of the game in the closing minutes to preserve the Bruins lead. When the final buzzer sounded it was the Bruins who showed the 6,010 fans in attendance what it was like to win, sending the Pirates win-less in their second consecutive loss at home. Providence improved their season to 6-6-0-1 for 13 points on the season, Nicklas Svedberg going 6-2-0 stopping 36 of the 37 shots he faced.
Providence heads home tonight to take on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers tomorrow afternoon at the Dunk. Face off is at 3:05PM ET and can be seen on AHL Live if you are not in the Providence area.
Game Notes. . .
Goaltending…
Niklas Svedberg: 36 saves out of 37 shots faced: (6-2-0-0) : .940 save% 1.75GAA
Mark Visentin: 24 saves out of 26 shots faced: (1-3-1-0) : .911 save% 2.99GAA
Power Play Opportunities…
Providence: 1/7 Portland: 0/8
Three Stars of the Game…
1. Niklas Svedberg: 36/37 saves (Providence)
2. Phil Lane: 1G (Portland)
3. Ryan Spooner: 1G (Providence)
*Note: All statistical information is from AHL.com and the Official Game Boxscore