There's no arguing that it was a disappointing October in Providence as the P-Bruins went 2-5-1-1 to dip to the bottom of the Atlantic Division, but the club learned last weekend just what a difference one weekend can make so early in the AHL season.
Providence opened November with three straight wins, pulverizing the opposition 17-9 in the goals department after scoring a total of just 18 goals in the first nine games of the season. With their recent run, the P-Bruins now sit fifth in the Atlantic and a mere one point behind Worcester for the fourth spot.
The P-Bruins concluded October with a 6-1 loss to the Sharks at the Dunkin' Donuts Center on Halloween, but reversed the trend and put the month of horrors behind them with a 6-1 victory of their own to begin November against Bridgeport last Friday. Five different Providence players recorded multiple-point performances in the game as Jamie Arniel led all scorers with three points and first star Jordan Smotherman put home a pair of goals in the P-Bruins' first Rhode Island win of the year. Michael Hutchinson earned his second win of the season with 26 saves, while Providence registered a plus-25 showing as a team, paced by Andrew Bodnarchuk's plus-four mark.
Saturday proved that Friday was no fluke for a team that had been hard up for offense as Providence stormed the Cumberland County Civic Center and left with a 5-4 overtime win against division-leading Portland. The loss was the first in eight games at home for the Pirates, who rallied from down 3-0 to score four unanswered goals before the P-Bruins tied the contest late in the second. A scoreless third brought overtime and Arniel was again a hero, netting his second extra session winner of the young season. Rookies shined in the win as Joe Colborne recorded his first career two-goal game, while Matt Bartkowski added two assists and Antoine Roussel garnered his first pro points with a pair of helpers of his own. In net, it was Nolan Schaefer taking the victory this time with 36 stops.
As the clocks turned back an hour in the wee hours of Sunday morning, the P-Bruins used whatever extra energy they could find in Albany to rebound from 2-0 and 4-1 deficits for a 6-4 win. Schaefer earned the win after taking over for Hutchinson midway through the game, but the stories of the game were special teams play and key performances out of young Providence veterans. After beginning the season just 4-for-43 on the power play, Providence erupted for four man-advantage goals on six tries, two belonging to Colborne. But, with the P-Bruins down 4-2 early in the second period, Jordan Knackstedt strung together three straight goals for a natural hat trick, the first of his career, before later tacking on an assist on Arniel’s third-period insurance goal. Knackstedt's linemate, Zach Hamill, who had been benched just a week earlier, tallied four assists, including two on the power play.
When all was said and done, eight P-Bruins recorded at least three points over the weekend, led by Knackstedt's four goals and two assists and followed closely by Colborne's four goals and one helper.
To Providence coach Rob Murray, the team was due.
"We finally scored some goals," said a relieved Murray. "It started on Friday night, where after the first period we had a couple chances, a couple posts, and, as it turned out, we scored a goal where we just threw the puck to the net and Jamie Arniel's goal went off a defenseman’s foot and it opened the flood gates of that game.
"There was a lot of work put into practice last week of getting pucks and bodies to the net and making that a main focus and it paid off," he continued. "It was a great weekend. Two hard road games and all the travel we had, the guys really rose to the occasion."
In all, 17 different players recorded points as Providence enjoyed its first perfect three-game weekend. The way things went, the club might not have minded another game a day or two later.
Rob Murray’s Player of the Week: Jordan Knackstedt
"Joe Colborne gets an honorable mention, Jamie Arniel also, but I’ve got to go with Jordan Knackstedt. He’s providing some scoring punch when we need it and the goals he’s scored were real nice goals, too. Up until over the weekend, the last three games, like [assistant coach Bruce Cassidy] said, everybody’s stats are starting to look normal again. Guys are starting to have some crooked numbers. But, Jordan has been the one that has probably been the most consistent in scoring from the second game of the season, where he scored in Springfield. I've said time and time again, from the blue-line in, he's as good as you get. It's the rest of his game that he keeps working on and is getting better at."
Hard Work Pays Off
On Tuesday afternoon, second-year forward Jamie Arniel was called up to Boston for the first time in his young career. It was a quick trip for Arniel, though, who served as a healthy scratch during Boston's 7-4 win at Pittsburgh on Wednesday before getting assigned to Providence late Thursday.
Arniel, Providence’s Rookie of the Year in 2009-10, currently ranks tied for third on the team in points with nine and second in goals with six behind Knackstedt's seven. In his 12 games, the 2008 draft pick also leads the P-Bruins in shots with 44 and already has a pair of overtime winners to his credit.
All-Time AHL Pugilist Returns
Arniel's transaction wasn’t the only one Providence was involved in on Tuesday as ninth-year pro Brian McGrattan cleared waivers and returned to Rhode Island. The veteran enforcer, who holds the AHL's single-season record for penalty minutes with 551 as a member of the Binghamton Senators in 2004-05, appeared in three games for the P-Bruins last month, going scoreless with a minus-four rating and zero penalty minutes during a conditioning stint from Oct. 29-31.
Regardless of his quiet first run in Providence, Murray welcomes his return.
"Brian McGrattan is a legitimate NHL heavyweight and I hope he plays with that kind of edge down here," said Murray. "A guy like that, he's a role player. As far as scoring goes, I don't think we're expecting much out of him. We just hope he is a good teammate for the guys, does his job and plays within our system and plays hard for us. That's really all I can ask of anybody.
"It’s not like he's been a 20-year NHL player," continued the coach. "He's spent time in the American League, so he knows what it's all about. There are going to be young guys that are going to want to challenge him and make a name for themselves, as I'm sure he did when he was a 20-year-old. He's going to have that to contend with. From what I've seen of him, he seems to be the type of guy who likes what he does, so I don't see why that would change."
The 29-year-old McGrattan has yet to appear in a game for Boston this season after signing with the club as a free agent on Oct. 11.
We’re Going Streaking
With last weekend's success, several P-Bruins are riding lengthy point streaks and win streaks. Dating back to Halloween, rookie Joe Colborne has points in four straight games, including five goals and one assist. Jamie Arniel has goals in three straight games, plus a pair of assists, while Jordan Knackstedt (four goals, two assists), Matt Bartkowski (three assists) and Andrew Bodnarchuk (two assists) each have points in two games in a row.
In net, Michael Hutchinson is unbeaten in his last three appearances at 1-0-0 dating back to Oct. 31, with two of those outings coming in the Ocean State. His goaltending ally, Nolan Schaefer, meanwhile, has wins in three straight road games that goes back to Oct. 23, as well as a current two-game winning run overall.
As a team, Providence not only has three wins in a row, but also points in four consecutive road games at 3-0-1-0. The P-Bruins, while just 1-4-0-1 at home, are 4-1-1-0 on foreign ice this season.
Power Play Finds Generator
Going into last Sunday's game in Albany, Providence ranked among the league's worst on the power play at just 4-for-43, otherwise translating to a 9.3 percent success-rate. The P-Bruins doubled the output on Sunday alone, however, going 4-of-6 with the man-advantage to jump to 20th in the AHL at 16.3 percent.
Milestones
After finding the back of the net on Friday against his former team, the Sound Tigers, veteran captain Jeremy Reich is now just two goals shy of 100 for his professional career. The 11th-year left wing has scored 96 AHL goals while playing for Providence, Bridgeport, Houston and Syracuse, plus two NHL goals as a member of the Boston Bruins during the 2007-08 campaign.
Saturday, meanwhile, was a special day for a pair of Providence rookies as Matt Bartkowski and Antoine Roussel each registered a pair of assists. For Bartkowski, the trip to Portland marked his first professional multiple-point game, while Roussel’s points were his first as a pro after a very successful junior career with Chicoutimi of the QMJHL.
On the Mend
Max Sauve, out the last eight games since suffering a wrist injury at Manchester on Oct. 16, projects to miss another two-to-three weeks, according to Rob Murray. Everyone else is expected to be healthy and ready for the weekend.
Leaders
Goals: Jordan Knackstedt (7)
Assists: Steve Kampfer (8)
Points: Joe Colborne, Kampfer (10)
Plus/Minus: Jeremy Reich (+7)
PIM: Lane MacDermid (35)
Power Play Goals: Jamie Arniel, Colborne (2)
Short-Handed Goals: Kampfer, Kirk MacDonald (1)
Shots: Arniel (44)
Wins: Nolan Schaefer (3)
GAA: Schaefer (2.90)
Save Percentage: Schaefer (.902)
This Weekend
Another three games await the P-Bruins this weekend as the team hosts two meetings with the Western Conference's Abbotsford Heat on Friday and Sunday in Rhode Island, sandwiched around a road stop in Manchester on Saturday.
The Heat, winners of three in a row, are currently among the top teams in their conference with 19 points and a 9-6-0-1 record to lead the North Division. Rookie forwards Carter Bancks, Greg Nemisz and Gaelan Patterson each have 10 points to pace Abbotsford, while Matt Keith, familiar to Providence from his time in Portland and Bridgeport, is close behind with nine points and a team-best seven goals. In net, Leland Irving is off to a great start at 8-3-0 to go along with a 2.36 goals-against-average.
"We played well against them last year," said Murray. "I believe we got six of the potential eight points. They're a hard-working team. I think they're very well coached and well disciplined systematically. I don’t think they've got much as far as out-and-out dynamic players, but they play a strong team game and we're going to expect to play against a team that has a real high work ethic that we're going to need to match this weekend.
"Manchester," Murray went on, "We’ve got to get the monkey off our back. We haven't had any success in two years with Manchester, whether it be [in Providence] or in Manchester, so we've got to find a way. I think, more times than not in Manchester, we beat ourselves and we've got to find a way not to do that this time."
The Monarchs are currently second in the Atlantic with 16 points at 7-4-1-1. Four different players show 10 points to lead the squad, including Corey Elkins, rookie Brandon Kozun, Alec Martinez and David Meckler. Since the start of the 2008-09 campaign, Providence is 4-11-1-3 against Manchester, including a 5-2 loss in the teams’ only meeting this year in New Hampshire on Oct. 16.
In addition to six points this weekend, fans can look forward to another weekend of promotions at The Dunk as Friday's game, beginning at 7:05 p.m., is Ear Warmer Night, while Sunday's 4:05 p.m. start marks a thundersticks giveaway.
