ABATE, SODERSTROM BOOST P-BRUINS PAST COMETS

Utica, NY - Forward Joey Abate netted two goals in the second period, while defenseman Victor Soderstrom posted a goal and two assists to boost the Providence Bruins past the Utica Comets 4-3 on Friday night at the Adirondack Bank Center. Alexis Gendron scored a power play goal, while goaltender Michael DiPietro stopped 19 shots to earn the victory. 

How It Happened

• While on the power play, Angus Crookshank received a pass in the left circle and fired a wrist shot under the glove of the goaltender to give the Comets a 1-0 lead with 13:31 remaining in the first period. 

• Xavier Parent collected the puck at the bottom of the left circle and slung a wrist shot inside the near post to extend the Utica lead to 2-0 with 3:51 to play in the first frame. 

• Max Wanner hammered a slap shot from the point that rebounded out to Abate above the crease, where he tucked the puck around the goaltender’s pads on the forehand to cut the Comets’ lead to 2-1 with 11:13 left in the second period. 

• Matthew Poitras danced around a defender in the right circle, before dishing the puck across the ice to Abate cutting towards the left post, where he redirected it into the back of the net to tie the game at 2-2 with 7:03 remaining in the second period. Soderstrom received a secondary assist.  

• Gendron chased the puck towards the right post and backhanded a shot that rang off the post, off the goaltender’s back, and across the goal line for a power play goal to give the P-Bruins a 3-2 lead with three seconds to play in the second frame. Riley Tufte and Soderstrom were credited with assists. 

• Soderstrom hit the empty net to make it 4-2 Providence with 38 seconds left in the third period. John Farinacci received an assist. 

• Crookshank scored again to make it a one-goal game with seven seconds remaining.

Stats  

• Abate has goals in back-to-back games and four points in that span. 

• Gendron scored his first goal in a Providence uniform and has three points in his last two games.  

• Poitras extended his point streak to four games. 

• DiPietro stopped 19 of 22 shots faced. The P-Bruins totaled 25 shots.

• The power play went 1-for-3 and the penalty kill was 0-for-1. 

• The P-Bruins improve to 46-13-1-0.   

Up Next

The Providence Bruins host the Utica Comets on Saturday, March 21 at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m.

Every minute of Bruins hockey can be watched online with the league’s streaming service, AHLTV on FloHockey. AHLTV on FloHockey provides its subscribers access to not just every regular season and Calder Cup Playoff game for all 32 AHL teams, but also more than 21,000 hockey contests from other professional and junior leagues on FloHockey, as well as access to all other live event streams and replays across FloSports. 

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03.20.2026