WILKES-BARRE TWP. – The Providence Bruins looked every bit like the first-place team they became Wednesday night.
Combining the American Hockey League’s top offense with the league’s first goalie to post five shutouts this season, the Bruins took over sole possession of the Atlantic Division lead by handing the host Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins their worst loss of the season, 6-0.
Max Legace made 38 saves to record his team’s second straight shutout and its third while winning nine of the last 11 games to surge into the division lead.
The Penguins, who had briefly taken over the Atlantic lead on the last night of November, continued their December slide. They are 1-6 during the month and have been shutout in two of the last three games.
“They scored on almost every one of their chances,” Penguins coach Mike Vellucci said. “They had 16 chances and six goals. It just seemed like everything was going in.”
Providence scored four times in the second period and two more in the first 4:17 of the third period. After the last goal, Vellucci pulled starter Casey DeSmith and replaced him with Dustin Tokarski, who saved the only three shots he faced.
“The last couple were fluke goals that would go off a leg and in,” Vellucci said. “You could just see it was one of those things. I didn’t pull him to embarrass him or any of that stuff. It’s just enough’s enough. We’ve got to change it up. I didn’t want to see him go through any more of it.
“He’s a pro. He’s smart enough to know that he can tighten it up and we can tighten it up.”
The Penguins will need to do that.
Their next outing is back on the Mohegan Sun at Casey Plaza ice Friday night against the same hot team, the Bruins.
“We just can’t give up six goals on 16 chances,” Vellucci said. “And, that’s as a group. There was a breakaway, a 2-on-1.”
Tommy Marchin scored twice for Providence. Robert Lantosi and Peter Cehlarik each had a goal and an assist. Defenseman Steven Kampfer had two assists.
“They got a chance, and they buried it,” Vellucci said. “They’ve got a lot of first-rounders on that team.
“They’re a good young team and they’ve got a lot of skill.”
While the Bruins showed off their skills, a fluctuating Penguins lineup continued to struggle offensively.
“We’ve got to find a way to start scoring goals,” said Vellucci, pointing out that even many of the team’s wins were in low-scoring games. “Obviously, a lot of guys are out, but that’s minor-league hockey. You’ve got to get ready and play the next game.”
Kevin Roy played his first game with the team after being acquired Tuesday from the Florida Panthers organization in a trade for Ryan Haggerty.
Roy had played 23 games for the Springfield Thunderbirds where he was the team’s fourth-leading scorer with four goals and 10 assists.
“He’s got a ton of skill and he made some really nice plays,” Vellucci said of Roy, a veteran of 149 AHL and 28 National Hockey League games. “It was a tough game to see him, but I really like what I saw so far.”
NOTES: Haggerty had 110 points in 196 games with the team over parts of four seasons. He led last season’s team with 23 goals and five game-winners. … Forward Sam Miletic was out sick. … Lagace, Marchin, Lantosi were the game’s three stars. … The Penguins had a season-high 20 shots in the third period.
Providence 6, Penguins 0
Providence`0`4`2`—`6
Penguins`0`0`0`—`0
First Period_No scoring. Penalty_Johnson, Penguins (tripping), 16:34.
Second Period_1, Providence, Shen 2 (Woods, Conway), 3:16; 2, Providence, Lantosi 8 (Gaunce,Kampfer), 7:28; 3, Providence, Marchin 1 (Cehlarik, Frederic), 13:23; 4, Providence, Cehlarik 9 (Lantosi, Kampfer), 19:16 (PP). Penalties_Marchin, Providence (holding), 3:30; Frederic, Providence (roughing), 7;50; Erkamps, Penguins (slashing), 17:22.
Third Period_5, Providence, Studnicka 13 (Fitzgerald, Carey), 1:15; 6, Providence, Marchin 2 (Petrovic, Frederic), 4:17. Penalties_Lauzon, Providence (tripping), 6:23; Lauzon, Providence (cross checking), 10:47.
Shots on Goal_Providence 5-19-6—30. Penguins 4-14-20—38.
Power-play opportunities_Providence 1 of 2; Penguins 0 of 4.
Goalies_Providence, Legace 13-3-2 (38 shots-38 saves). Penguins , s, Bow 6-7-1 (29 shots-26 saves). Penguins, DeSmith 10-8-1 (27 shots-21 saves); Tokarski (3 shots-3 saves).
A_3,812.
Referees_Rob Hennessey, Casey Terreri. Linesmen_Tom DellaFranco, Ryan Knapp.