Providence Knocks Out Portland

Providence Wins 2-1 and Eliminates Portland
April 24, 2009
by T. Chace Jr.

Much like the night before in Portland, the P-Bruins overcame a 1-0 deficit by scoring two goals in the second period and then holding on for a victory. The anemic Portland power play finally cashed in on a goal by Mike Kostka at the 10:25 mark to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead. Colton Fretter and Marc-Andre Gragnani recorded assists on Kostka's first goal in the series. Portland outshot the Bruins 14-12 in the period but netminder Tuukka Rask was up to the challenge and turned away some good opportunities.

The second period was dominated by Providence and a fourth line goal by Jordan Knackstedt beat Jhonas Enroth at 5:46 of the period to tie the game at 1-1. Dan Ryder and Ned Lukacevic assisted on the first goal of the playoffs for Knackstedt. With just 45 seconds left in the second period veteran Peter Schaefer scored what proved to be the game winner with assists given to rookie Mikko Lehtonen and d-man David Kolomatis. The power play goal was scored with the Pirate's Gragnani serving an ill advised slashing penalty, which was called while his team was on a power play.
Providence outshot Portland 17-7 and now led 2-1 after two periods of play. The same scenario took place on Thursday night, two late goals by Providence after Portland took the lead in the first period.

The third period saw Providence take two penalties early but Rask held the Pirate's at bay and the Bruins held on for the victory. Providence Head Coach Rob Murray got his first series victory and was quite pleased with his team's effort. "We've got a good group here, they know there's potential for us to do something good." The Bruins shut down Portland's high powered offense and were able to score enough goals on the Pirate's tremendous goaltender, Jhonas Enroth, who was named a star of the game for the fourth time in five games. As good as Enroth was, Rask was better. Rask was the number one star for the second consecutive game and was named a star in all five contests. Murray stated that Rask is peeking at the right time, "Tuukka is definitely right on his game and Enroth, I've gotta believe that's as good as he's played all season. That was a superb effort by both goaltenders and both goalies should be commended for it."

Schaefer was chosen as the second star tonight and Enroth was the third star. Providence outshot Portland 38-30, and was 1 for 5 on the power play. Portland scored their first power play goal of the series tonight and was 1 for 4 for the game. Providence now awaits the winner of the Hartford/Worcester series.