The
Baby Bs franchise is 4-1 in five previous stabs at a postseason do-over with a
given adversary. The opposition is 1-0 when seeking redemption, though that
scenario is not relevant in 2014 with the Hershey Bears out of the mix.
As
Friday’s series opener at Wilkes-Barre’s Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza
continues its gradual approach, here is a look back at the Bruins’ other
back-to-back postseason bouts.
1996-97:
Springfield Falcons
The
1996 playoffs began with a 6-3 P-Bruins win at the Falcons’ “Nest.” (Sound
familiar?) But the higher-seeded Springfielders retorted with a 3-2 regulation
victory before seizing two overtime decisions in as many nights at the
Providence Civic Center. The Bruins spilled a 3-0 lead after the first period
to set up a 4-3, sudden-death season-ending defeat in Game 4.
Exactly
52 weeks later, each team enabled a best-of-seven second-round meeting by each
surmounting 2-0 series deficits. The Bruins dislodged the top dog Worcester
IceCats, the Falcons the Portland Pirates to set up the New England Division
Final.
Once
there, Springfield roared out to a commanding 3-0 lead, nudging the Bruins to a
brink with yet another overtime win on Providence property in Game 3. A stellar
performance by one-month wonder Derek
Herlofsky helped the Spoked-Ps stave off a sweep and spare their home crowd
handshakes and heartache. But the Falcons dealt the decisive blow the next
night on their pond in Game 5, 3-1.
1999-00:
Hartford Wolf Pack
The
first-ever playoff edition of a natural rivalry was the least compelling of its
kind. The 1999 P-Bruins flexed their historic dominance with a four-game,
second-round sweep in the New England Division Final.
Starting
the next year, though, the Bruins and Wolf Pack developed a habit of pushing
their postseason bouts to a rubber match. It happened in 2000, 2001 and their
most recent renewal in 2007.
The
first time around, Hartford recovered from a double-overtime loss in Game 4 to
fill a 3-1 series pothole. Having succeeded Providence as the AHL’s
regular-season champions, they thus exercised their right to host Game 7 in the
Eastern Conference Final.
The
reigning playoff champion P-Bruins briefly flip-flopped a 1-0 deficit to a 2-1
lead. But the Pack pulled even to force overtime, where old friend Terry Virtue banked the clinching shot
off Peter Ferraro’s backchecking
blade.
Virtue
went on to win his second straight Cup at the expense of the Rochester
Americans, joining his new allies in a 4-2 series triumph.
2000-01: Hartford
Wolf Pack
Hartford
held the higher seed in the opening round of their title defense and pounced
for an initial 2-0 in the best-of-five.
But
the Bruins channeled their 1997 selves and the Pack of the previous year with
back-to-back elimination-game victories before seizing the decider back in Connecticut.
Eric Manlow supplied both visiting
goals in Game 5’s 2-1 decision.
2007-08:
Manchester Monarchs
After
their string of three consecutive confrontations, Providence and Hartford would
not cross paths in another playoff tournament until 2007. When the Bruins
recovered from a 3-2 deficit to claim a best-of-seven in the Eastern Conference
quarterfinal, they brought on the Monarchs.
An
initial 1-0 and 2-1 edge devolved into a six-game slipup in that series. But after claiming
the regular-season title in 2008, the P-Bruins got their chance to return the
favor in the Eastern Conference quarters.
In
the rematch, Tuukka Rask and his
skating mates outdueled and overwhelmed Jonathan
Quick for a Game 2 shutout. The rest of the time, Rask outlasted Jonathan Bernier for a troika of 3-2 overtime
victories en route to a four-game sweep.
Rask
would backstop the Bruins to two more wins, confining the opposition to two
goals or fewer in each of his first six AHL playoff games. But the Portland
Pirates reversed the momentum for a four-games-to-two upset in the second
round.
2008-09:
Portland Pirates
By
hosting the Pirates for the first two games of the first round, the P-Bruins again
picked up where they left an unfulfilled playoff endeavor.
Rask
recovered from a 3-0 loss in the opener and regained the form he had lost at
the turning point from 2008. He limited Portland to one goal—no more, no less—in
each of four unanswered wins to polish off a 4-1 series decision.
Multipoint
efforts from Rask’s fellow future Boston colleagues, Johnny Boychuk and Brad
Marchand, granted Providence the lead via a 5-1 romp in Game 3. Rask later
claimed first-star accolades in Game 4 at Portland and the Game 5 clincher back
home.
Rask’s
minor-league career continued for 11 more games with a second-round dismissal
of the Worcester Sharks and a five-game falter via Hershey in the conference
final. Boychuk, Marchand and Adam
McQuaid all followed him to The Show over the course of the next year.
2009-13: Hershey
Bears
This
is somewhat a stretch since it did not occur in consecutive calendar years. But the fact
is that the Providence franchise saw no playoff action between May 25, 2009 and
April 26, 2013.
The
setting for both of those games: The Dunkin Donuts Center. The visiting
adversary in both cases: The Hershey Bears.
After
laying claim to their third regular-season laurel in franchise history, the
P-Bruins hosted Hershey to commence the playoffs in a best-of-five, which
returned after a 10-year absence.
Like
the 1997 IceCats and 2011 Wolf Pack, the Bears sculpted a swift and commanding
2-0 advantage. But a two-goal, three-point performance from old friend Chris Bourque on Hershey property
preserved Providence’s hopes in a 5-1 Game 3 outburst.
Carter Camper’s hat trick
piloted a 5-4 win to force a rubber match back at The Dunk, where the Bruins
prevailed on the scoreboard and in the series by identical 3-2 finals.
Soon-to-be Boston blueliners Kevan
Miller and Matt Bartkowski
collaborated to set up Jamie Tardif’s
go-ahead strike to wrest away the rematch of the Ultimate Ursine Battle.
