P-BRUINS SHUTOUT MONARCHS 3-0

Providence Back At The Dunk Sunday vs. Binghamton

Providence, RI - The Providence Bruins blanked the Manchester Monarchs 3-0 Friday evening at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in front of 8,597 fans. The P-Bruins had goals from Joe Colborne, Jordan Smotherman and Kirk MacDonald.

In their first home game of 2011, Providence came looking to extend their winning streak to two games. The P-Bruins tested the Monarchs defense and Martin Jones early in the first frame, with rushes from Jamie Arniel and Maxime Sauvé. Creating traffic in front of Jones, Jeff Penner's slap shot from the point found its way through player's skates and rookie Colborne put it home at the 15:54 mark. Antoine Roussel picked up the helper on the play along with Penner, sending the P-Bruins into the first intermission with the 1-0 lead.

Providence carried the momentum from Colborne's late first period goal into the second frame as the P-Bruins struck just 3:27 into the period. Smotherman forced a turnover at the Manchester blue line and then blanked Jones with a snap shot from the top of the right circle to give Providence a two-goal lead. Zach Hamill and Andrew Bodnarchuk assisted on the play. Providence continued to create offensive opportunities, but it was Matt Dalton who stole the show and kept the Monarch's deficit at two goals. Dalton made acrobatic saves en route to securing Providence's two-goal lead. Jordan Caron and Jeremy Reich nearly connected with under three minutes to play, with a deflection from Reich going just wide of an open net.

The P-Bruins continued to thrive off the momentum of their two-goal lead to open the third frame with early 2-on-1 opportunities from Arniel and Sauvé. Providence lit the lamp for the third time just 5:34 into the third when Kirk MacDonald's quick wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle beat a screened Jones. Arniel and Yury Alexandrov registered the helpers on the goal. Aided by strong two-way play and Dalton's continuous impressive play, Providence held off the Monarchs for the 3-0 win.

Dalton earned the win, his first career AHL shut out, blocking 34 shots. Jones suffered the loss, stopping 28 attempts. Providence went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and 0-for-3 on the power play.

The P-Bruins are on the road on Saturday in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at 7:05 p.m. Providence then takes on the Binghamton Senators at The Dunk on Sunday to wrap up the weekend with Thundersticks Night at 4:05 p.m. To purchase tickets or for more information, call the P-Bruins ticket office at 401-273-5000 or log on to the team website at www.providencebruins.com.