Affiliate Report: Providence, Maine sweep home-and-home series

On a weekend when the Boston Bruins uncharacteristically fell flat at home, the team’s two minor league affiliates notched a perfect weekend going a combined 4-0-0 to help improve playoff positioning.

With two months left to play in the regular season, the Providence Bruins now own first place in the Atlantic Division, while the Maine Mariners are entrenched in a battle for second place in the ECHL North Division, one point back of Reading with two games in hand.

Providence took down the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (Pittsburgh Penguins) in a home-and-home last weekend, earning a 4-3 shootout victory at home on Friday and eking out a 3-1 win Saturday night on the road.

Maine swept division rival Trois-Rivieres Lions (Montreal Canadiens), taking a 4-2 victory in Portland on Friday night and cruising to a 4-0 triumph in Saturday’s finale.

Providence Bruins

29-9-9, 67 points, 1st in Atlantic Division

In a home-and-home series against Atlantic Division bottom-dweller Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the Providence Bruins made the statement they were looking to with a pair of victories.

Providence won the first game of the weekend, 4-3 in a shootout, on home ice. After a scoreless first period, Fabian Lysell got Providence on the board with his 10th tally of the season. But the visiting Penguins struck thrice in a row to open a two-goal lead — the most dangerous lead in hockey.

Looking for a spark, Georgii Merkulov provided just that, tallying a goal late in the second period before equalizing with under two minutes to play in the third. Lysell and Mike Reilly converted in the shootout, and Kyle Keyser slammed the door late to cap a 30-save effort.

Providence came from behind again on Saturday, notching a 3-1 win on the road. Trailing 1-0 after a period, Jack Ahcan found twine midway through the second stanza to tie things up at one apiece. In the third period, it was Merkulov again scoring the go-ahead goal and recording an assist on Chris Wagner’s empty-netter to seal it. In goal, Keith Kinkaid amassed 26 saves in the winning effort.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Georgii Merkulov — For the second week in a row, the Russian rookie earns the honors after collecting five points against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Stick taps go to Lysell and Ahcan for multi-point weekends.

ROSTER MOVES

• Called up to Boston — Jakub Lauko.
• Called up from Maine — Alex-Olivier Voyer, Patrick Shea.

UP NEXT: Providence hosts the Springfield Falcons (St. Louis Blues) twice, a 7:05 p.m. start on Friday and a 3:05 p.m. matinee on Sunday. Sandwiched between those contests is a road matchup at the Hartford Wolfpack (New York Rangers) on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m.

Maine Mariners

27-14-2, 56 points, 3rd in North Division

Maine turned in a pair of impressive offensive performances during their home-and-home series with Trois-Rivieres last weekend. Since the start of 2023, Maine is 12-3-1 and has risen up to third in the North Division standings, now just a point back of second-place Reading.

On Friday, Maine grinded out a 4-2 victory at home without top forward Patrick Shea, who earned a well-deserve call-up to Providence. Newly acquired forward Chase Zieky helped fill the void, providing a pair of assists on the opening goal and the winning goal. Tim Doherty added an empty-netter late and Michael DiPietro stood tall when needed making 22 saves.

Maine required no late heroics in a 4-0 win on Saturday, with Reid Stefanson (2g, 2a) and Mathew Santos (4a) each tallying four points and Cameron Askew (1g, 2a) also notching a multi-point outing. Francois Brassard stopped all 41 shots he faced in a shutout effort.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Reid Stefanson & Mathew Santos — Both forwards finished the weekend with five points, the latter recording all assists to achieve the feat. Stick taps go to Brassard for the 41-save shutout and Zieky for his multi-assist effort.

ROSTER MOVES

• Sent up to Providence — Alex-Olivier Voyer, Patrick Shea.
• Returned from Loan — Andrew Peski (Springfield Falcons).
• Signed — Tommy Munichiello.

TRADES: We hardly knew ya’, Zach Pochiro. After Maine acquired the forward from the Allem Americans last week, Pochiro was flipped to Kansas City for Griff Jeszka — a former UMass-Amherst and Merrimack forward. Jeszka has bounced around a bit this season, playing just eight games for Kansas City. Meanwhile, Pochiro was promptly suspended by his new team two days after the deal went through.

UP NEXT: It’s a busy four-game week for Maine, beginning Wednesday night with a trip to face the Adirondack Thunder (New Jersey Devils) at 7:00 p.m. On Friday, Maine kicks off a three-game homestand against Trois-Rivieres at 7:15 p.m. followed by a pair of games against the team the Mariners replaced as Boston’s ECHL affiliate — the Atlanta Gladiators (Arizona Coyotes). Saturday’s contest against Atlanta starts at 6:00 p.m. followed by a 3:00 p.m. faceoff on Sunday.