In the end, Hershey is too deep, experienced for P-Bruins
09:25 PM EDT on Monday, May 25, 2009
By ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer
PROVIDENCE The Providence Bruins dreams of winning their second Calder Cup in franchise history came to an end Monday evening with a 5-2 loss to Hershey in Game Five of the Eastern Conference finals.
The Bears won the best-of-seven series, 4-1, to advance to the Calder Cup finals against the winner of the Houston-Manitoba series.
(Providence) played right until the end, Hershey coach Bob Woods said. Give them credit, theyre a good hockey team. They had a great season. Were just happy to be going on.
Providence showed a lot of heart and determination against the veteran Bears, but in the end, Hershey was too strong. The Bears had the P-Bruins on their heels all night. They outshot Providence, 38-29, but P-Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (33 saves) did an excellent job at keeping Providence in the game and giving his team a chance.
It was nice for everyone to leave their best on the ice, Providence forward Brad Marchand said. We played as hard as we could. Theyre a much older, much more experienced team and were happy with how we played in this series.
With the score tied at 2-2 and Providence on a power play, Hershey forward Chris Bourque, the son of Boston Bruins Hall of Famer Ray Bourque, tracked down a loose puck in the neutral zone. He skated up the center of the ice on a breakaway and blasted a slap shot past Providence goalie Tuukka Rask (33 saves) from between the circles to score the shorthanded, game-winning goal.
I dont think that we had anything to be ashamed of as far as losing four games to one to Hershey, Providence coach Rob Murray said. It could easily have been not over yet. There were a couple of games that could have went either way but thats the way it goes. Once again I am very proud of them and appreciative of the effort they gave me all year long.
Darren Reid added an insurance goal for Hershey with 9:41 remaining in the game, and Quintin Laing scored an empty-net goal with 56.4 seconds left to ice it.
The Bears were the aggressors right from the start. Hershey outshot the slopping-skating P-Bruins 13-3 in the first period, but neither team scored. That was mainly because Rask had an outstanding opening stanza.
With the way the Bears dominated the first period, however, it seemed like it would only be a matter of time until they scored in the second period. It didnt take long.
Thanks to two Providence penalties in the opening 1:23 of the second period, Hershey received a golden opportunity to score with a 5-on-3 advantage.
They did just that. After Hershey right wing Andrew Gordon received a pass from Alexander Giroux just in front of the left circle, he one-timed it in to give the Bears a 1-0 lead, 2:17 into the second period.
Providence answered less than three minutes later with a power play goal of its own. Jeff Penner, skating up the left side of the ice, passed the puck to Peter Schaefer who skated behind Hersheys net. He centered the puck to Marchand, who fired it past Hershey goalie Michal Neuvirth (27 saves).
Providence was outshot only 17-14 in the second period, but Rask couldnt stop them all. In fact, he didnt even have a chance to stop the puck that put the Bears on top, 2-1.
Rask left his net to stop a dump-in, but the puck hit a support behind the net and caromed out front to Giroux, who steered it into the empty goal with 3:40 remaining in the second period.
Mikko Lehtonen picked the perfect time to score his second goal of the postseason with the P-Bruins trailing 2-1 in the third period. Lehtonen went top-shelf from the left circle to tie the game at 2-2, 1:57 into the final period.
After the game, Murray told his team that he was proud of them. I think that in the long run we probably overachieved this season considering the things that we went through as far as our lineup all year long. We are very, very young and I was very appreciative of the veteran leadership we had on this team.
Providence had several chances to stay alive in the series, but the Bears proved to be too tough. The P-Bruins led 3-0 in Game Three and 2-0 in Game Four but lost both games.
Murray said that he was happy with the way Providence played all season.
Providence (43-29-2-6, 94 points) finished second in the Atlantic Division behind Hartford (46-27-3-4, 99 points). The P-Bruins ousted Portland from the playoffs for the first time since 1995 with a five-game series victory that included four straight wins after they dropped the first game, and then bested Worcester, 4-2, in the Atlantic Division finals.
Im happy with how the season went and what we accomplished, Murray said.
NOTES: Both teams were missing key players. Providence forward Vladimir Sobotka (2 goals, 11 assists, 13 points) suffered a lower body injury in the second period of Game Four, keeping him out of the lineup, and Hershey forward Keith Aucoin (13 assists, 3 goals, 16 points) missed the game with a hip flexorProvidence is now 0-6 all-time when trailing a series 3-1.
I never thought that I would be seeing a team that actually did overachieve, but this P-Bruins team did just that. With all the rookies and the youth, I had no idea where we'd end up at the end of the season. I didn't even count in the playoffs. So, to go up a very veteran team of Hershey (who now is in the Finals for the third time in four years) is incredible! And, with that record of Hersey's, how can anyone feel bad about Providence's loss? I'm so glad that the players are proud and that Rob Murray is proud. I know I am. It was a great run and a great season!
this website is saying that johnny boychuk is a RESTRICTED free agent? is that good? does that mean he will most likely be on providence next season????????
Being a restricted free agent is just like it sounds.. restricted to do much... it's a good thing if you/we want to see a player back. All the players on that list will be offered a qualifying offer next month. On occasion, the NHL team doesn't offer a player or two or more an offer because they just don't fit with the team. I don't see this in Johnny's case.
Unrestricted Free Agents are just like they sound.. they can sign anywhere.
Restricted Free Agents can sign other places, but the team (Bruins) have to be compensation, and it's a long set of rules.
I'll be posting the list of still signed, etc., in a day or two. And as soon as qualifying offers go out, they'll be posted here.