POITRAS, P-BRUINS DOWN THUNDERBIRDS

Springfield, MA - Forward Matthew Poitras posted two goals and an assist to help the Providence Bruins down the Springfield Thunderbirds 7-1 on Saturday night at the MassMutual Center. Georgii Merkulov, Patrick Brown, Dans Locmelis, and Brett Harrison each recorded a goal and an assist. Goaltender Luke Cavallin stopped 25 shots to earn his first victory in a Providence uniform.

How It Happened

• Locmelis collected a rebound outside the right post and flipped it into the back of the net to give the P-Bruins a 1-0 lead just 2:06 into the first frame. Poitras and Fabian Lysell received the assists.

• Just 16 seconds after the previous tally, the puck ricocheted out to Harrison at the bottom of the left circle, where his wrist shot from an off angle rang the right post and trickled across the line to extend the Providence lead to 2-0. Dalton Bancroft and Colin Felix were credited with assists. 

• While on the power play, Frederic Brunet slid the puck to Poitras in the slot, where he backhanded a shot that snuck past the goaltender’s right pad to give the P-Bruins a 3-0 lead with 4:23 remaining in the first period. 

• Brown’s one-timer from the slot snuck inside the near post to extend the Providence lead to 4-0 with 15:01 to play in the second frame. Merkulov and Billy Sweezey received assists. 

• Merkulov protected the puck around the defender in the left circle and took it towards the crease, where he flipped a shot under the cross bar to give the P-Bruins a 5-0 lead with 11:56 left in the second period. Brown was credited with an assist. 

• John Farinacci slipped a pass across to Poitras in the right circle, where his wrist shot zipped past the goaltender’s glove for a power play goal to extend the Providence lead to 6-0 with 6:55 remaining in the second period. Harrison received a secondary assist. 

• Calle Rosen’s wrist shot from the point found the back of the net to cut the P-Bruins’ lead to 6-1 with 9:44 to play in the third frame. 

• Ty Gallagher converted on a 3-on-1 at the right post to give Providence a 7-1 lead with 3:23 left in the third period. Locmelis and Lysell received assists.    

Stats 

• Merkulov notched his 203rd career point on his tally. He ranks second all-time in Providence Bruins scoring behind Andy Hilbert (2001-2005) with 210.

• Cavallin earned the victory in his first game with Providence. 

• The last time Providence scored seven or more goals was on March 21, 2025 in a 10-2 victory at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.  

• Cavallin stopped 25 of 26 shots faced. The P-Bruins totaled 31 shots.

• The power play went 2-for-4 and the penalty kill was 5-for-5. 

• The P-Bruins improve to 21-5-1-0.

Up Next

The Providence Bruins travel to the Springfield Thunderbirds on Wednesday, December 31 at the MassMutual Center. Puck drop is set for 3:05 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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12.27.2025