Bruins dominate against the T-Birds ending point streak at home

Story By: Matthew Wiernasz

Photo Courtesy of the Springfield Thunderbirds

SPRINGFIELD, MA-  The Providence Bruins ended their 2023 portion of the schedule with a dominating performance with the 8-2 victory against the Springfield Thunderbirds on Saturday at the MassMutual Center.

” We just gave them too many opportunities and you know around our net, they were a little bit firmer and they won all those key battles tonight. You know specialty teams or 5-on-5. There wasn’t an area of our game we could rest our hat on and say that was good by and of our players or any of our departments.” Thunderbirds Interim Head Coach Daniel Tkaczuk Said

” I am proud of how the guys played. They had a tough game last night. I’m sure they didn’t play how they wanted to. Then we did a lot of good things. I think you know for us. We just played how we need to play and you know that’s less fluff and more kind of inside hockey. Real proud of the guys I’ve been that they played really well. Not gonna lie, the toughest schedule I’ve been through in the American League. It’s been really tough. But there’s guys that really kind of embrace the grind. That’s kind of what the American League is at times. We’re sitting there kind of thinking about it today and the guys that have really stepped up their play has been when it’s been the hardest and it says a lot about who they are. I think the Bruins have done a good job of identifying these types of people, not just players but types of people.” Providence Bruins Head Coach Ryan Mougenel Said

Anthony Richard got the Bruins on the scoreboard as he jumped in on an opportunity when Thunderbirds forward Will Bitten went to make the pass towards the Thunderbirds line chance when a line change was taking place. Richard fired the wrist shot past Thunderbirds goaltender Vadim Zherenko to make it 1-0 3:44 into the opening period. It was Richard’s 11th goal of the season and the goal was unassisted.

Bruins defenseman Ethan Ritchie would make it 2-0 for the Bruins a minute later as forward Jesper Boqvist made the pass and Ritchie took the slap shot that went through Zherenko. Fabian Lysell would receive the secondary assist.

The T-Birds were only able to get five shots on Bruins goaltender Brandon Bussi in the first period.

The Bruins would extend their lead in the second period Justin Brazeau would use the wrist shot that went past the goaltender of Zherenko to make it 3-0 with 13:39 remaining in the second period.

Thunderbirds forward Jakub Vrana would extend his point streak to four games as he took the wrist shot that went by Bruins goaltender Brandon Bussi to make it 3-1 18 seconds later.

The Bruins would extend their lead back to three goals as T-Birds forward Zachary Bolduc received a double-minor for high-sticking. Jesper Boqvist would score a power play with 11:20 remaining in the second period to make it 4-1.

Once Bolduc left the penalty box, he would get a breakaway opportunity but he would be tripped as he would be awarded a penalty shot with 9:14 remaining in the second period. Bolduc was denied by Bussi with the pad save.

The Bruins would score two more power-play goals in the second period as John Farinacci made it 5-1 with 8:29 remaining in the second period. Zherenko’s night would come to an end as he made 18 saves on 23 shots. Thunderbirds goaltender Malcolm Subban would come in to replace Zherenko.

The Bruins would continue their momentum as Trevor Kuntar scored with 4:49 remaining in the second period to make it 6-1.

Thunderbirds forward Will Bitten was able to add his third goal of the weekend when he scored a power-play goal on a tip-in to make it 6-2 with 32.8 seconds remaining in the second period.

The Bruins however would continue the momentum heading into the third period. Patrick Brown skated up the ice and fired the shot past Subban to make it 7-2 with 12:43 remaining in regulation.

The T-Birds would get a power play late in the game but Jayson Megna would score a shorthanded goal with 2:00 remaining in regulation to make it 8-2.  It was the first shorthanded goal the Thunderbirds had given up all season.

Bruins goaltender Brandon Bussi made 16 saves in the team win.

” He made the saves he needed to save. He’s been a little bit of a product of the schedule too. You know he’s battled. His game hasn’t been an amazing place where it probably was this time last year but I think it was really important for him to go through that too. I think you know when it’s kind of not that it’s been easy but you know he hasn’t really had many hiccups this far and sometimes it’s a really good thing at this level. I know it’s tough when you’re going through it and it’s not easy as probably as a coaching staff or management staff when your team is struggling. We struggled this year you know mightily at times but I think it’s for the best. Hopefully it’s behind us but Bussi is a big part of that so it’s great to see that he rebounds from that.” Providence Bruins Head Coach Ryan Mougnel Said

Thunderbirds goaltender Malcolm Subban made eight saves on 11 shots in relief of Zherenko.

The Thunderbirds will begin the 2024 portion of the schedule as they will have a 3-in-3 next weekend as they will conclude the seven-game homestand when they host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday and the Providence Bruins on Saturday and will conclude the 3-in-3 next Sunday against the Providence Bruins.  The game next Sunday in Providence will begin a four-game road trip for the Thunderbirds as they will also travel to Bridgeport, Syracuse, and conclude it in Utica.