95 South: One step forward, two steps back

95 South: One step forward, two steps back
by Kristy Gleason

Just when we thought it was safe to go back to the ice rink to watch a team that had their legs solidly back under them, P-Bruins Nation suffered through a week of disappointments. The team as a whole struggled mightily, playing scattered, disorganized hockey for the better part of their games, although desperation did seem to kick in at some point; usually too late in the game to make it count on the scoreboard. The week's rest that the All-Star break gave the players seemed to have instilled a bit of lethargy that took nearly two full periods in the team's first game back to shake off. Coach Bill Armstrong continues to try and fix what was never broken, breaking up the high-flying trio of Eric Manlow, Peter Ferraro, and Cameron Mann. It's obvious even to the casual observer that when one of them gets moved to another line, none of the lines seem to be able to get anything going. Put the three of them together, however, and whammo! The puck grows eyes and finds the back of the net nearly instantaneously.

The call-ups and injuries continue to pile up for the P-Bruins. Those who were injured going into the All-Star break were still pretty banged up, although a couple did return; unfortunately, a couple of the returnees ended up returning to the injured list during Friday's game. Jeremy Brown, Mattias Karlin and Pete Vandermeer all participated in Friday's match against the Hartford Wolf Pack, but Brown injured his hip and missed the rest of the weekend's games. He isn't expected back in the line-up until perhaps this weekend, or not until next week sometime. Vandermeer is doubtful for Wednesday night's game, but may return by the weekend's slate of games. Elias Abrahamsson also returned to action over the weekend and saw a fair chunk of ice time. It's now Jonathan Girard's turn to feel like a yo-yo, as he was recalled by Boston Friday morning, returned to Providence on Saturday, then recalled again on Sunday, along with Andre Savage and Jay Henderson. Defenseman Duane Harmer, who spent some time with the P-Bruins late last season and throughout the playoffs, was signed by the P-Bruins late last week after he'd been released from his PTO by the Lowell Lock Monsters. He's already made quite a splash since his return to the team and has fit in beautifully on the recently much-depleted blue line. Scrappy forward, Jason Renard, made his debut for the P-Bruins this past weekend, giving the team a bit more punch on the forward lines. Marquis Mathieu remains sidelined with more hip woes, although he did state that it's nothing serious and he's seeking physical therapy to work out the kinks. The long-anticipated return of Jeff Zehr didn't happen as planned; the P-Bruins assigned him to the ECHL's Greenville Grrrowl to get him into game shape. Unfortunately, in his first game for the Grrrowl, Zehr tweaked his previously healthy knee, but he expects to be back in action for the Grrrowl this upcoming weekend. Cameron Mann was recalled once more by Boston on Tuesday, and the P-Bruins have recalled center Dany Bousquet from the ECHL. The addition of Bousquet to the line-up should help take some pressure off Eric Manlow, as well as some of the wingers who have been forced to play center recently.

Providence's state of affairs in the league as of 01/23/01: Ranked 3rd in division standings and conference standings, and 7th in overall league standings with 52 points and a .578 winning percentage; ranked 2nd in league in goals for (153); tied for 10th in the league for goals allowed (136); tied for 1st in league in power-play percentage (23.1% success rate); ranked 5th in league for penalty-kill percentage (83.6% success rate); tied for 4th in the league in short-handed goals scored (9); ranked 1st in league in average shots per game (35.20).

As has been the case several times this season, the P-Bruins' weekend slate of games began with a contest against the Hartford Wolf Pack. It was a wild ride, and not surprisingly so. The first period was a scoreless deadlock, with Hartford holding the definite territorial advantage, peppering John Grahame with 14 shots, while allowing only 7 to get through to Johan Holmqvist. The Pack broke through seven and a half minutes into the second, when Brad Smyth potted his 29th goal of the season, with assists by Derek Armstrong and Jason Doig. That was only the beginning of the barrage set forth by the Wolf Pack. A little under three and a half minutes later, Chris Kenady gave his team a 2-0 lead, with Terry Virtue and Todd Hall assisting. Twenty-three seconds later, Hall drilled home another goal for the Wolf Pack, with Kenady and Bert Robertsson garnering the assists. A minute later, Providence finally solved Holmqvist, when Mattias Karlin shoveled the puck into the net to get the P-Bruins on the board. Pete Vandermeer and Joe Hulbig assisted. With just under a minute and a half left in the middle period, Smyth snagged his second goal of the game, on assists from Armstrong and David Duerden. The third period, however, belonged to the Providence Bruins. It took 40 minutes for Bill Armstrong to realize that his team was fighting a losing battle and he finally got a clue and went with what has been working fantastically all season. After having split up the usual top line of Mann-Manlow-Ferraro for the first two periods, Armstrong put them back as a unit and guess what? Magic started to happen again. Ferraro halved the Pack's lead three minutes into the third period, with assists credited to Pete Vandermeer and Duane Harmer, while the P-Bruins were on the power play. Two and three-quarters minutes later, Nick Boynton brought Providence to within a goal , on assists from Harmer and Ferraro. A little less than six minutes later, Cameron Mann knotted the score, 4-4, with Manlow and Ferraro assisting. That is how the game would end, with Hartford outshooting the P-Bruins, 41-36 through 65 minutes of play. Hartford was scoreless on their five power plays, while Providence capitalized on one of their six man-advantages.

Three stars of the game:
1) Peter Ferraro, Providence (1 goal, 2 assists)
2) Cameron Mann, Providence (1 goal, game-tying goal)
3) John Grahame, Providence (stopped 37 of 41 shots)

While the P-Bruins showed a little more fire in their game against Portland on Saturday night, they had extreme difficulty solving Portland netminder Corey Hirsch. Andrew Raycroft had a rare start in net, seeing his first game action in two weeks, since John Grahame has been getting a lion's share of the starts recently. It didn't take long for Portland to put Raycroft to the test. A few seconds under four minutes into the game, Alexei Tezikov staked the Pirates to a 1-0 lead while on the power play. Terry Yake and Kent Hulst assisted on the tally. With a minute and a quarter left in the first period, Yake increased Portland's lead to 2-0, on assists from Todd Rohloff and Jeff Nelson. Seven and three-quarters minutes into the middle frame, Martin Hlinka put the Pirates up, 3-0. Hulst and Nelson assisted. Cameron Mann put the P-Bruins on the board at the 9:00 mark, with Peter Ferraro and Duane Harmer assisting. Six and a half minutes later, Terry Hollinger closed the gap to a 1-goal game, while the P-Bruins were on the power play. Ferraro and Mann assisted. Unfortunately, it was a close as Providence would get on this night. A minute and a half after Hollinger's tally, Mark Murphy made it 4-2. Tezikov and Glen Metropolit added the helpers. Metropolit put the game away at the 7:50 mark of the third, on assists from Murphy and Yake. Both teams had 8 power plays; both teams scored 1 power-play goal. Raycroft stopped 28 of 33 shots he faced, while Hirsch sticked away 32 of 34 shots.

Three stars of the game:
1) Terry Yake, Portland (1 goal, 2 assists)
2) Glen Metropolit, Portland (1 goal, 1 assist)
3) Cameron Mann, Providence (1 goal, 1 assist)

Earlier on in the season, it seemed that Providence had no problem handily dispatching their division rivals. Sunday's game against the hot-hand Worcester IceCats drove home the fact that the P-Bruins' struggles are appearing to get worse as the season wears on. Both teams were playing their third game in as many nights, but Worcester had more gas left in the tank than Providence did when the third period was played out. Cameron Mann put the P-Bruins on the scoreboard first with his 18th goal of the season, a power-play marker, with assists going to Terry Hollinger and Eric Manlow. Jame Pollock evened the score at the 11:39 mark of the first. Darren Rumble and Pascal Rheaume assisted on the power-play goal. It was a hard-fought middle stanza, with neither team able to get a shot past the opposing goaltender. The third period stage was set early. Rheaume scored on the power play, just two minutes in. Rumble nabbed his second assist on the night. Mann tied it up again just forty-six seconds later, with the P-Bruins on the power play this time, with assists going to Peter Ferraro and Duane Harmer. Eric Boguniecki scored the eventual game-winner with eleven minutes remaining in the game, on assists from Mark Rycroft and Rheaume. Justin Papineau provided the insurance goal for the IceCats with two and three-quarters minutes left in the game. Shawn Mamane and Jason Lawmaster assisted. John Grahame faced 42 shots, and turned aside 38 of them, while Dwayne Roloson, who leads the AHL in goals-against average and save percentage saw moderate action, stopping 21 of 23 shots that came his way. Worcester was 2-for-5 on the power play, while Providence went 2-for-7.

Three stars of the game:
1) Pascal Rheaume (1 goal, 2 assists)
2) Cameron Mann (2 goals)
3) Darren Rumble (2 assists)

Upcoming games: Wed., Jan. 24 vs Springfield, 7:05pm; Fri., Jan. 26 at Norfolk, 7:30pm; Mon., Jan. 29 at Norfolk, 7:05pm.

© 2001 Kristy Gleason