PROVIDENCE, RI – If there is one thing to be certain about the Atlantic Division finals between the Providence Bruins and the Worcester Sharks it would be the teams took drastically different paths to reach this series. Providence cruised through the regular season and led the division for most of the way until they yielded in the end to the Hartford WolfPack. It was completely the opposite for the Sharks who had to make an 8-2 run over their last two games just to enter the playoffs.
While the teams entered the playoffs in a different matter they started the playoffs the same way—with a thud. The Bruins were underwhelming in their first game as they were not only out-shot and out-scored, but were shutout on home ice. After their poor start the Bruins limited the Portland Pirates to single goals in each of the next four games to move on to the division finals.
In Hartford all seemed normal for the first-seeded WolfPack as they posted 2-0 and 5-3 wins in the first two games. Hartford also had a lead in Game 3 of the set until Ryan Vesce scored to tie the game and then bagged a goal in double-overtime to claim the Sharks first post-season win. There would be no stopping Worcester after the win in Game 2 as they smoked the WolfPack 6-0 in Game 4 and then won by two-goal margins in the next games.
On paper Providence had a decisive edge in head-to-head play, but if you drill down into the stats you can see the Sharks had a respectable finish. The Bruins went 6-3-1 against Worcester, but the Sharks won the last two games between the two teams, including a 3-0 decision the last time the clubs faced each other. The teams will each be without, at least to start in Worcester’s case, with the players who had the most success in head-to-head play. The Boston Bruins dealt Matt Lashoff (11 points in seven games) and Martins Karsums (seven points in five games) for NHL depth although Mikko Lehtonen (seven goals) remains available for the Bruins. Providence netminder Tuukka Rask was highly successful when he played Worcester as he posted a 6-1 mark with a 2.24 goals against average when facing the Sharks.
Jamie McGinn, who is currently on recall to the San Jose (NHL) Sharks, knocked in six goals in limited play against Providence. The highest goal scorer currently on Worcester’s roster is Derek Joslin who scored four times. Worcester’s starting netminder Thomas Greiss had a sub .500 record at 3-4-1, but his goals against average was 2.16, a figure which is even better than Rask’s in head-to-head play between the clubs.
Forwards
Providence has high-powered forwards in Vladimir Sobotka, Lehtonen, Brad Marchand and Martin St. Pierre. Captain Jeremy Reich does contribute on the scoreboard, in the dressing room and is a solid two-way player at this level. The club might get some scoring from Zach Hamill, Peter Schaefer, Jordan Knackstedt and/or alternate captain Wacey Rabbit but it would be wise not to count on them for points. Kirk MacDonald, Ned Lukacevic and Dan Ryder all played large portions of the season in the ECHL, but are all playing regularly in the playoffs.
Worcester captain Vesce may have saved the season for the Sharks in Game 3, but he was held quiet for most of the series against Hartford. Riley Armstrong did not score any goals, but he helped set up eight, which is good enough for second in the league. Otherwise the club had great scoring balance in the first round. In addition to Vesce, Tom Cavanagh, Frazer McLaren, Cory Larose, Lukas Kaspar, Dan DaSilva, Andrew Desjardins, Logan Couture and T.J. Fox each scored at least one goal for the club. Besides Armstrong the only forwards who did not score a goal were Matt Fornataro who had an assist in his only game, swingman Brett Westgarth and Brad Staubitz. A fun fact about Staubitz is the club went undefeated once he was inserted into the lineup.
Defensemen
Patrick Traverse keyed the Sharks Game 5 win with two goals and an assist and is the highest scoring defenseman in the AHL playoffs. The rest of the crew was solid and not flashy. Kyle McLaren, Jason Demers, Brendan Buckley, Mike Moore, Westgarth and Joslin did not produce much scoring, but they were strong in their end.
Providence stuck with six defenders in their series against Portland and they played in each game. AHL Defenseman of the Year Johnny Boychuk is the leader on the blueline and he is capably assisted by Andrew Bodnarchuk, Ryan Stokes, Jeff Penner, Adam McQuaid and David Kolomatis. Most of the defenders were quiet offensively. Boychuk had four points in the series while the other five defenders could only contribute two assists.
Goaltending
Rask struggled in the division finals last year, but it seems he has turned the corner in the playoffs with a tremendous 1.20 goals against average and a save percentage of .959. The club’s back-up goalie is Kevin Nastiuk who saw most of his action in the ECHL this year.
Worcester has Thomas Greiss in goal and he was solid for the most part in their first round series although he did struggle in a few games. Greiss has to play well as rookie netminder Alex Stalock is his back-up. Stalock joined the club after his season with Minnesota-Duluth (WCHA) ended and he has yet to see any action with the club.
X-Factors
Each team has their share of injured players. Sobotka is banged up for the Bruins while Fox and Buckley did not dress for the final game of their series against Hartford.
The Boston Bruins are in the second round and will not be able to send reinforcements to the P-Bruins, but the San Jose Sharks could send McGinn down for the Calder Cup playoffs if they are knocked off. Worcester may also be able to dress 2007 first round choice Nick Petrecki if they chose to after he signed an ATO (amateur tryout contract).
The schedule is a strange one. The two teams will play Game 1 on Tuesday, April 28 but the two teams will take a long rest after that due to the fact the circus is in town in Providence and the DCU Center in Worcester is holding a professional bull-riding event.
What to expect
This promises to be a close-checking, hard-hitting series with goaltending playing a huge role in how it will turn out. Providence scored five goals in one game of their five-game set with Portland but they were unable to score more than two goals in the other five games. Worcester was a bit more explosive as they scored six goals in one game and five in another, but they also got tagged for five goals in another. While Providence won the season series and finished ahead of the Sharks in the standings they will be hard-pressed to advance unless they can score a few more goals to relieve some of the pressure on Rask.
Contact tom.schettino@prohockeynews.com Catch all the playoffs at Intotheboards.net
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