Game Preview: Providence vs. Manchester, Worcester & Adirondack

The Providence Bruins are fresh off a successful weekend that saw the club earn five of a potential six points and will seek to further their stake in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The club will be right back at it with yet another busy weekend that will feature two home games, with a road trip to the DCU Center in Worcester, MA interceding. 

The Bruins will enter the three-game stand in 10^th place of the Eastern Conference standings with a record of 9-8-0-2.

The puck drops at 7:05 pm on Friday night’s matchup with the Manchester Monarchs paying a visit to The Dunkin’ Donuts Center. The Bruins and Monarch’s have split the best-of-eight regular season series, with each team earning a victory at home on the road, thus far. Ryan Spooner, second on the Bruins in team scoring with 13 points, has succeeded in particular against Manchester, notching a goal and three assists through the four matchups. In addition to Spooner, the Bruins have received solid contributions against the Monarchs in net from Niklas Svedberg. Svedberg appears to have the Monarchs number, defeating the Atlantic Division foe in two of the three games he has appeared against them.

The Bruins will hit the road immediately following for a Saturday tilt with the Worcester Sharks, who sit atop the Atlantic Division standings with an 11-8-1-1 record. The Sharks own a 3-0-0-0 head-to-head matchup against the Bruins thus far, including 3-2 shootout victory at The Dunk’ this past Sunday. Sharks forward Tim Kennedy is among the league leaders in scoring, totaling 11 goals and 12 assists. His 23 points are good for the third highest amongst AHL skaters. This will prove to be a crucial game in the standings for both squads, as the Sharks are currently four points ahead of the Bruins for the divisional lead.

The Bruins will return home and finish off the weekend with a Sunday matinee vs. the Adirondack Phantoms (9-11-0-0). This will be the Bruins first matchup of the season with the Phantoms; the clubs split the season-series in 2011-12. Brayden Schenn has paced the Phantoms offense, registering 9 goals and 13 assists through Adirondacks first 20 games.

Both Bruins’ games will feature special promotional events. The first 2,000 fans in attendance on Friday night will receive free ear-warmers, courtesy of BankRI. Sunday is Stadium Cup Day, with the first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a free Bruins cup, courtesy of Cool Air Creations.