95 South: "One" of those weeks
by Kristy Gleason
It was one of those weeks for the Providence Bruins... one win, one tie, one loss. The team's offense seems to have taken a bit of a holiday along with the dates on the calendar, but starting with December 26th, they play five games in six nights, all against division rivals. It's hoped that with the coming of the new year, the P-Bruins will meet with every success they can muster.
The absence of team and league scoring leader, Eric Manlow, appears to have left others on the squad with cooled sticks. This is by no means a slam against Manlow, who has consistently proven this season that he is very deserving of a certified shot in the NHL. While the P-Bruins got timely goals from the checking line (Jeremy Brown, Marquis Mathieu and Pete Vandermeer) during this past week's action, it's time for others to step up their game and produce at the level they're capable of doing. Cameron Mann remains out of action with a bacterial infection, but he's expected back in the line-up over the upcoming weekend with any luck. The P-Bruins could definitely use his offensive flair around the net, and perhaps it will jolt others out of their respective scoring droughts. Chad Cabana was recalled from the UHL's New Haven Knights before the pre-Christmas tour and added some toughness to the line-up, especially against the physical Hartford Wolf Pack. Pavel Kolarik was recalled by Boston last Friday night as insurance in case oft-injured Kyle McLaren was unable to play on Saturday. As it turns out, McLaren was in the line-up, and Kolarik ended up being a healthy scratch.
Providence's state of the affairs in the league as of 12/26/00: Ranked 1st in division standings, conference standings, overall league standings with 45 points and a .703 winning percentage; ranked 2nd in league in goals for (116); tied for 5th in the league for goals allowed (82); ranked 1st in league in power-play percentage (24.2% success rate); ranked 1st in league for penalty-kill percentage (85.3% success rate); ranked 1st in league in average shots per game (36.28); ranked 4th in the league in team save percentage (.918); ranked 5th in the league in team goals-against average (2.52); Eric Manlow leads the league in points (45) and assists (36) and is 4th in the league in +/- (+17); Peter Ferraro is tied for 4th in the league in points (38) and tied for 3rd in goals (17); Eric Nickulas is tied for 1st in the league in game-winning goals (5); Pete Vandermeer is 1st in the league in shooting percentage (.305), tied for 2nd in the league in goals (18) and is 2nd in the league in power-play goals (13); Marquis Mathieu is tied for 2nd in the league in short-handed goals scored (3); Kay Whitmore is tied for 6th in the league in GAA (2.33); Nick Boynton is tied for 6th in the league in +/- (+13); Brandon Smith is tied for 4th in league scoring by defensemen (24 pts.); Lee Goren is tied for 9th in rookie scoring (21 pts.).
The P-Bruins continued their dominance of their most bitter of division rivals, the Hartford Wolf Pack, on Wednesday, the 4-2 victory improving the P-Bruins' regular season record to 5-0-0 against them. Derek Armstrong put the Wolf Pack up quickly, beating rookie goaltender Andrew Raycroft just a minute and a half into the game, with Brad Smyth and Tony Tuzzolino being credited with the assists. That 1-0 lead held until halfway through the second frame when Pete Vandermeer scored on the power play, with the set-up by Brandon Smith and Ivan Huml. Brandon Dietrich put Hartford ahead once more five and three-quarters minutes later with assists from Smyth and Drew Bannister. A bit over two minutes later, Marquis Mathieu was sent in short-handed by Jeremy Brown and Nick Boynton, beating Yeremeyev to tie the game up at 2-2. Jon Coleman gave the P-Bruins their first lead of the game at 3:10 of the final stanza, on Brown's second assist of the night, a power-play marker. Mathieu added an unassisted empty-netter with one second remaining in regulation. The P-Bruins shut down Hartford in the third period, allowing them only 2 shots on net. Providence capitalized on 2 of their 5 man-advantages, while Hartford went 1-for-7. Vitali Yeremeyev sticked aside 30 of 33 shots faced, and Raycroft turned away 25 of 27 shots.
Three stars of the game:
1) Marquis Mathieu, Providence (2 goals)
2) Jon Coleman, Providence (1 goal, game-winner)
3) Jeremy Brown, Providence (2 assists)
The story of the game Friday night against the Rochester Americans was Mika Noronen. He robbed numerous chances by Providence, stoning Mike Hall, Peter Ferraro and Brandon Smith several times throughout the match. Jason Cipolla scored his sixth goal of the season at 13:11 of the first period, on assists from Joe Murphy and former Bruin Chris Taylor. Taylor increased the Amerks' lead to 2-0 five and a quarter minutes into the second period, with Jeremy Adduono and Dane Jackson garnering assists. Craig Charron topped off the scoring in the third, just seventy-four seconds in, on a bang-bang play from Todd Nelson and Jason Holland. Andrew Raycroft shunned 29 of 32 shots, while Noronen denied all 26 shots he faced. Providence went 0-for-5 on the power play, while Rochester was unable to capitalize on either of their two man-advantages.
Three stars of the game:
1) Mika Noronen, Rochester (stopped 26 of 26 shots, shutout)
2) Andrew Raycroft, Providence (stopped 29 of 32 shots faced)
3) Chris Taylor, Rochester (1 goal, 1 assist)
The Hamilton Bulldogs were looking to redeem themselves after the P-Bruins shellacked them 8-0 six days prior to the meeting this past Saturday evening, and redeem themselves they did. They battled hard, outshooting the P-Bruins 42-35 overall, and forced a 2-2 tie with the league-leading Providence club. The game was a scoreless deadlock until fifty-eight seconds into the second period, when Pete Vandermeer broke through on the power play, tipping a Peter Ferraro shot past Alex Fomitchev. Jon Coleman received the secondary assist on the goal. Fernando Pisani returned the favor at the 9:48 mark of the second with a power-play marker of his own, on assists from Michel Riesen and Alain Nasreddine. Paul Healey scored his 18th goal of the season, also a power-play goal, and gave the Bulldogs the lead, 2-1, with just over nine minutes remaining in regulation. Pisani and Riesen assisted on the tally. Barely less than two and a half minutes later, Jeremy Brown was fed a beauty of a break-out pass from Keith McCambridge, and scored short-handed, to tie the game at 2-2. On the power-play, Hamilton went 2-for-5, while Providence managed 1-of-6. Andrew Raycroft, in net for the third straight game, stopped 40 of 42 shots he faced, while Fomitchev denied 33 of 35 that got through to him.
Three stars of the game:
1) Andrew Raycroft, Providence (stopped 40 of 42 shots)
2) Jeremy Brown, Providence (1 goal, game-tying goal)
3) Fernando Pisani, Hamilton (1 goal, 1 assist)
Upcoming games: Wed., 12/27, at Hartford, 7:05pm (televised on FSNE); Fri., 12/29, vs Lowell, 7:05pm; Sat., 12/30, at Portland, 8:05pm (televised on WMTW); Sun., 12/31, at Worcester, 7:35pm.
© 2000 Kristy Gleason
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