After a brief four-game stint with the big club, Matt Bartkowski is heading back to Providence.
The 22-year-old defenseman was sent back down to the AHL's Providence Bruins on Saturday. He had been recalled by the Bruins after Steven Kampfer went down with a concussion and Andrew Ference was sidelined with a lower-body injury.
Bartkowski's assignment could mean that Ference is ready to return, as Claude Julien said Thursday that the defenseman was progressing well and that his status for Tuesday's game would be determined over the weekend.
The assignment could also just be to get Bartkowski some work for the P-Bruins, as he skated just 4:42 in the Bruins' loss on Long Island on Friday night.
In his recent four-game stint, Bartkowski averaged roughly nine minutes per game, registering zero points, an even rating and two penalty minutes. In 55 AHL games this year, he has five goals, 16 assists and a minus-15 rating.
