P-Bruins beat Portland 6-3

(WPRI) - The Providence Bruins defeated the Portland Pirates 6-3 this evening at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. The P-Bruins received goals from Trent Whitfield, Zach Hamill, Calle Ridderwall, Matt Bartkowski and two from Kyle MacKinnon.

After an eventless first ten minutes of the opening period, Bobby Robins got the crowd and players on their feet when he dropped the mitts and Mathieu Brodeur in a drawn out center ice battle. Robins was assessed with a boarding call in addition to his five minute fighting major and high sticking call 20 seconds later gave the Pirates a two-man advantage.

Portland capitalized on the power play as Marc-Antoine Pouliot's shot from the low circle found its way past Anton Khudobin to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead at 15:44.

The lead would be short lived as MacKinnon collected the puck in the neutral zone and beat the Pirates' defenders and with a smooth toe-drag and goaltender Justin Pogge with a snap shot top shelf at 16:44. Less than a minute later, MacKinnon struck again, tallying his second goal of the night and seventh of the season. Kirk MacDonald thwarted the Pirates breakout attempt at the blue line and fed MacKinnon breaking into the zone, allowing him to beat Pogge with a wrist shot from the high slot. The goal sent the P-Bruins into the first intermission leading 2-0.

The physical play from the first carried over to the second period. An early Providence boarding penalty allowed Pouliot and Portland to tally a second power play goal at 2:55 to even the score 2-2. Despite losing the lead, Providence continued to pressure Portland in all zones.

The Pirates' defense finally caved to the P-Bruins hard forecheck at 16:08 when the line of Lane MacDermid, Whitfield and Robins caused a turnover deep in the Pirates zone. Robins collected the puck in the corner and fed Whitfield in the slot for a one timer, giving the P-Bruins a 3-2 lead at 16:08.

Following the theme from the first period, it seems all good things come in pairs. Ridderwall found the P-Bruins' leading scorer, Carter Camper, in the neutral zone, who then fed Hamill trailing in the Pirates zone with a back pass. Hamill moved the puck across the high slot with a toe drag and ripped a snap shot past Pogge in the far corner to take a 4-2 lead going into the final frame.

The Pirates got on the board at 2:05 of the third period, pulling within a goal. Portland continued to throw shots on net, but Khudobin was flawless between the pipes, making acrobatic saves to keep the lead. Providence continued to forecheck Portland's defense hard.

Their work paid off at 14:23 when Camper pressured a Pirates defenseman behind the Portland net, allowing Ridderwall to strip the flustered Pirate of the puck, deke Pogge and beat him blocker side to take a 5-3 lead. Bartkowski secured the 6-3 win for the P-Bruins with an empty net goal at 18:52. Hamill and Ridderwall assisted on the goal.

Khudobin earned the win, stopping 30 of 33 shots, while Pogge fell short, blocking 27 of Providence's 32 attempts.