P-Bruins depth is the story again


01:00 AM EST on Sunday, January 4, 2009

Special to the Journal


SPRINGFIELD, Mass. For the second consecutive game, the Providence Bruins used their depth to gain a victory.

On Friday night, seven players scored goals en route to a 7-2 triumph over the Hershey Bears.

Last night, five players Martins Karsums, Mikko Lehtonen, Matt Marquardt, Wacey Rabbit and Johnny Boychuk netted goals as the P-Bruins defeated the Springfield Falcons, 5-2, at the MassMutual Center.

The Falcons grabbed a 1-0 lead with a Rob Schremp goal at the 8:19 mark of the opening period while on the power play.

Providence came back to tie it with a shorthanded tally on a breakaway by Karsums at the 10:48 mark. Karsums backhanded the puck over the glove of Falcons goaltender Jeff Deslauriers and into the net for his 15th goal of the season.

The P-Bruins then took their first lead at the 19:36 mark. Boychuk held the puck at the right point and sent it to Brad Marchand in the corner. He fed it to Lehtonen in the left face-off circle and Lehtonen tallied his ninth goal of the season.

Providence went ahead, 3-1, at the 12:56 mark of the second period. Marquardt had a breakaway and was taken down from behind. He was awarded a penalty shot and scored his fifth goal of the season.

Springfield pulled within a goal at the 19:49 mark, with a power-play tally by Theo Peckham.

In the third period, the P-Bruins took a 4-2 advantage at the 4:44 mark, while on the power play. Jeff Penner held the puck at the left point and sent it to Karsums in the corner. He found Rabbit back door, who tallied his seventh goal of the season.

Providence finished off the scoring at the 19:05 mark with an empty-net, short-handed goal from Boychuk, his eighth of the season.

Kevin Regan stopped 31 of 33 shots he faced for the P-Bruins, while Deslauriers made 31 saves for the Falcons.

The thing that impresses the most with this team is the fact that even with all the call up(St.Pierre, Hunwick,Lashoff and i may be forgetting some) this team just keeps plugging away like nothing happened.

Everyone is contributing and playing their best. Tuukka has been solid as of late and if Martins Karsums doesn't look out, he's gonna be sitting atop the leagues scorer's list.

I totally agree. It's been so awesome to see so many of the other players (and Marty Karsums just keeps up his high standard) pitch in and score. I still can't say enough about Friday's game and how much it was a total team effort.