High-scoring affairs aplenty among Bruins’ affiliates.
Goals, goals, goals. That was the theme among Bruins’ minor league affiliates over the weekend as the Providence Bruins and Maine Mariners split their weekend games on home ice in offense-heavy affairs.
Down in Rhode Island, Providence took down the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (Philadelphia Flyers) on Friday night, 6-3, when the team honored the late Colby Cave. The following night, Providence fell in overtime to the Hartford Wolfpack (New York Rangers), 2-1.
Up in Maine, the Mariners overcame three separate three-goal deficits in a wild Friday night contest against the Trois-Rivieres Lions (Montreal Canadiens), but fell in overtime, 8-7. Maine bounced back against the Lions on Saturday, holding on for a 4-3 victory.
Providence Bruins
On a special night when Providence honored the late Bruins’ prospect Colby Cave, who died suddenly in April 2020, much like their parent club did days earlier. Providence came out motivated, taking a 2-0 lead after a period and finishing the night with a 6-3 result.
Forward Zach Senyshyn netted a hat trick and added an assist. Other top performers included Steven Fogarty, who recorded another multi-point game with a goal and an assist, along with Jesper Froden and Jack Ahcan who recorded two assists each — the latter is now up to seven helpers on the season.
Jon Gillies was back between the pipes on Friday, turning aside 31 of 34 shots to win his third straight game since being promoted from the ECHL.
The following night was a dichotomy of Friday, with Providence and Hartford playing scoreless well into the third period. Jakub Lauko broke the deadlock for Providence with under seven minutes remaining, but Hartford equalized four minutes after and won it in overtime.
Player of the Week: Zach Senyshyn — Four-point nights don’t come to often, especially for Senyshyn who is likely getting his last chance to rise up the organizational depth chart. Stick taps to Fogarty and Gillies who again impressed for Providence. Also, the Jesper Froden hype train keeps on rolling.
UP NEXT: Providence welcomes the Hartford Wolfpack back to the Dunkin’ Donuts Center on Friday night (7:05 p.m.) and will close its five-game homestand on Saturday against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (7:05 p.m.).
Maine Mariners
What a wild ride it was on Friday night for Maine. Despite dropping an 8-7 result in overtime to Trois-Rivieres, the Mariners showed fight.
The night started poorly as the Lions struck thrice on eight shots in the opening eight minutes, chasing Maine netminder Jeremy Brodeur. But the Mariners settled in and after a eight-goal first period trailed 5-3.
The Lions restored their three-goal lead early in the second period. But Lewis Zerter-Gossage continued on his hot streak, adding four consecutive goals after netting one late in the first frame to put Maine on top. Trois-Rivieres tied it in the final minute of regulation and won it midway through overtime to squash the Mariners’ comeback bid.
Zerter-Gossage finished the night with six points to set a new franchise record for most points and goals in a single game to go along with 11 shots. It marked the 33rd time in ECHL history a player had scored five goals in a game. Pascal Laberge has four points and Jeremy Brazeau had five points.
On Sunday afternoon, it was Maine who opened up a three-goal advantage as Brazeau and Laberge each recorded multi-point games for the second straight contest. A third-period goal by Laberge, assisted by Brazeau, proved to be the winner as Maine held on thanks to some redemption from Brodeur in goal who stopped 31 shots.
Player of the Week: Jeremy Brazeau — A goal and four assists in a thriller followed by another multi-point outing made for a strong weekend for this prospect. Zerter-Gossage and Laberge aren’t left out as they’ll get stick taps for six-point weekends.
UP NEXT: Maine heads to the Sunshine State for four games this week. They’ll take on the Jacksonville Icemen (New York Rangers) for three games on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, all beginning at 7:00 p.m. On Saturday, Maine heads south to Orlando to face the Solar Bears (Tampa Bay Lightning) at 7:00 p.m.