The Bruins continue to roll, the Bears rebound with a shutout, and a pair of hat-tricks in a win, and loss, capping off Saturday across the American Hockey League
The Providence Bruins are the hottest team in the American Hockey League.
Fresh off a Friday night shutout over the Phantoms, the Bruins rolled into Wilkes-Barre to take on the WBS Penguins.
It was a vintage performance from the P-Bruins, with goaltender Brandon Bussi putting up 30 saves on 31 shots with plenty of offensive support from his linemates.
Georgii Merkulov netted two goals and added three assists for a whopping five-point night while Jesper Boqvist produced four points in the contest to push Providence to their seventh straight win.
The Penguins moved to 11-9-3 on the season with a minus-seven plus/minus differential.
The Hershey Bears rebounded grandly following a loss on Friday that prevented them from reaching their 10th straight win.
The defending Calder Cup Champions waffled the Cleveland Monsters with a 6-0 shutout. Clay Stevenson continued his unbelievable campaign with a 21-save performance, while Ethen Frank put up four points, with two goals from Frenchman Pierrick Dube.
Hershey moved their overall record to 38 points with a 19-5 win/loss breakdown with a sparkling 10-2 home record.
Multi-team NHL and AHL veteran Adam Cracknell logged a hat-trick as the Henderson Silver Knights ran down the San Jose Barracuda.
Henderson's Isaiah Saville stopped 31 of 32 shots, with the Silver Knights, mired in a 2-6-0-2 run in their past 10, getting back on track with a win.
Elsewhere, the Coachella Valley Firebirds moved to 10-1 on the road with a 4-2 win over the Canucks, Rocco Grimaldi put up three goals in a losing effort as the Wolves fell 8-5 to the Texas Stars, and Nathan Walker's four-point night pushed the Thunderbirds over the slumping Islanders.
Laval Rocket (6-12-3-2) Hartford Wolf Pack (15-5-3-0) FINAL 5-1
LAV: R. Kidney (04:45 1st), B. Gignac (06:03 2nd), R. Kidney (08:32 2nd), N. Yaremko (17:27 2nd), J. Davidson (15:13 3rd)
HFD: B. Hillman (02:14 1st)
Providence Bruins (13-8-1-2) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (11-9-3-0) FINAL 5-1
PRO: G. Merkulov (05:53 1st), J. Brazeau (11:25 2nd), J. Boqvist (15:59 2nd), G. Merkulov (09:54 3rd), J. Boqvist (16:13 3rd)
WBS: A. Nylander (13:56 3rd)
Grand Rapids Griffins (8-10-2-1) Belleville Senators (10-8-2-2) FINAL OT 4-3
GR: M. Kasper (05:35 2nd), N. Stevens (02:22 3rd), N. Stevens (13:07 3rd), D. Shine (01:11 OT)
BEL: G. Pilon (16:00 1st), A. Crookshank (02:48 2nd), N. Matinpalo (13:24 3rd)
Hershey Bears (19-5-0-0) Cleveland Monsters (14-7-1-0) FINAL 6-0
HER: A. Limoges (05:39 1st), E. Frank (09:58 1st), P. Dubé (02:58 2nd), M. Sgarbossa (07:37 2nd), P. Dubé (09:50 2nd), H. Lapierre (08:33 3rd)
Milwaukee Admirals (12-8-1-0) Iowa Wild (9-11-1-1) FINAL 4-1
MIL: D. Gurianov (06:04 1st), J. Gross (16:29 2nd), M. Jankowski (15:54 3rd), E. Afanasyev (19:55 3rd)
IA: J. Khaira (05:03 3rd)
Utica Comets (9-8-3-0) Syracuse Crunch (13-6-0-2) FINAL 3-1
UTC: F. Engaras (12:42 1st), G. Clarke (07:42 2nd), X. Parent (19:46 3rd)
SYR: F. Robert (10:01 1st)
Lehigh Valley Phantoms (10-9-4-0) Charlotte Checkers (11-10-0-0) FINAL 4-1
LV: Z. Wisdom (06:36 1st), W. Allison (10:59 1st), J. Bellerive (11:45 2nd), E. Desnoyers (18:38 3rd)
CLT: J. Wise (15:33 3rd)
Springfield Thunderbirds (12-8-2-0) Bridgeport Islanders (6-15-1-0) FINAL 5-1
SPR: M. Laferriere (01:40 1st), D. Coghlan (07:50 1st), N. Walker (07:18 3rd), W. Kalynuk (07:40 3rd), D. Coghlan (13:59 3rd)
BRI: M. Maggio (10:27 3rd)
San Diego Gulls (7-11-4-0) Rockford IceHogs (9-10-2-0) FINAL 5-1
SD: G. Gawdin (06:32 2nd), B. Tracey (13:24 2nd), C. De Leo (18:09 2nd), T. Hinds (11:54 3rd), J. Caulfield (16:38 3rd)
RFD: L. Nijhoff (13:57 3rd)
Texas Stars (13-5-2-1) Chicago Wolves (5-13-1-1) FINAL 8-5
TEX: M. Blumel (00:19 1st), O. Back (07:39 1st), N. Caamano (18:35 1st), C. McKenzie (15:01 2nd), A. Stranges (01:06 3rd), S. Reedy (07:18 3rd), D. Pouliot (18:36 3rd), M. Karow (19:59 3rd)
CHI: K. Marino (07:47 1st), A. Green (10:22 1st), R. Grimaldi (14:34 2nd), R. Grimaldi (03:38 3rd), R. Grimaldi (05:11 3rd)
Henderson Silver Knights (11-10-1-2) San Jose Barracuda (6-11-4-0) FINAL 5-1
HSK: A. Cracknell (05:11 1st), S. Rempal (05:44 1st), A. Cracknell (08:35 2nd), A. Cracknell (14:36 2nd), B. Brisson (16:42 3rd)
SJ: B. Coe (04:01 3rd)
Tucson Roadrunners (13-7-1-1) Colorado Eagles (10-9-3-0) FINAL 4-3
TUC: V. Soderstrom (05:17 1st), P. DiLiberatore (09:13 3rd), C. Hebig (10:30 3rd), J. Doan (19:37 3rd)
COL: N. Clurman (07:40 1st), W. Aamodt (04:29 2nd), C. Pare (18:13 2nd)
Coachella Valley Firebirds (12-7-1-0) Abbotsford Canucks (13-7-1-0) FINAL 4-2
CV: M. McCormick (10:03 1st), J. Megna (05:46 2nd), V. Ottavainen (09:45 2nd), L. Henman (14:07 2nd)
ABB: L. Karlsson (10:28 1st), S. Dries (17:23 1st)
Ontario Reign (14-7-1-1) Bakersfield Condors (8-8-0-1) FINAL 2-1
ONT: C. Hudon (04:36 2nd), F. Pinelli (05:02 2nd)
BAK: C. Savoie (10:30 1st)