For Prime P-Bruins, Saturday’s Games 5 Is Keep Playing Or Keep Practicing

Just as he did in Tuesday’s 6-3 barn-burner, Ryan Spooner will strive to prolong his AHL tenure with the Providence Bruins Saturday night. No. 1 goaltender Niklas Svedberg, who ceded the crease to rookie Malcolm Subban for Game 4, will do the same if head coach Bruce Cassidy elects to install the elder stopper.

The Springfield Falcons will host the deciding dance in the best-of-five Eastern Conference quarterfinal at MassMutual Center. If the P-Bruins polish the upset, they will occupy themselves for no less than another week and a half.

In that event, there is potential for the best-of-seven second round of the Calder Cup playoffs to outlast the parent club’s endeavor. The Boston Bruins enter their own Saturday tilt facing a 1-0 second-round deficit at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens. Where that series stands, the familiar “if necessary” asterisk makes its first appearance a week from Saturday for Game 5 on May 10.

On the other hand, if the Falcons seize their third and final lead, Spooner and Svedberg are the two most logical Boston Black Ace shoo-ins. They, if anybody, figure to latch on with the Spoked-Bs’ Stanley Cup run in a practice-only capacity if Providence’s 2013-14 slate evaporates this weekend.

If all goes according to plan, Spooner and Svedberg will need no further fostering before assuming a permanent Boston roster spot after the next training camp. No shortage of Bruins bystanders scratched their heads when the second-year professional pivot even returned to Rhode Island this past winter.

The 22-year-old Spooner saw action in 23 NHL games over the 2013-14 regular season. That included a meaty stretch of 20 straight contests spanning Dec. 8 through Jan. 20. He swelled his stats to 11 points while flaunting spurts of promise on both sides of the puck as a stand-in on the third line.

Yet when Boston’s roster started restoring normalcy, he was one of the sacrifices to the farm. That move was to everyone’s benefit, though.

At the time of Spooner’s reassignment on Jan. 28, Bruins bench boss Claude Julien told the Boston hockey press corps, “He has been really good for us, but at the same time he still has some things to work on. We can look at his point production; at the same time he has no goals, so he’s got to learn to start taking more goals to the net.”

Three months and 32 AHL contests later, Spooner has buried eight goals, all in March and April. Those include four at even strength, one shorthanded and two in the first four games of the postseason.

On the subject of playoff productivity, while Spooner is averaging a point per game in the series, those four points have come in the form of two goal-assist variety packs. What’s more is that both of those productive outings occurred on home ice in Games 1 and 4.

But Spooner charged up his share of variety packs in a variety of venues over the course of the regular season. One of those happened to be on a March 15 visit to Springfield. That night, he buried an unassisted shorthanded strike to saw a 3-1 deficit in half, though the Falcons wrested away a 4-2 final.

The fact that Spooner and linemates Craig Cunningham and Matt Fraser perked up in the face of elimination Tuesday night yields additional cause for organizational encouragement. Points or not, win or not, an identical effort on the road Saturday would embolden a welcome sign as Spooner’s development progresses.

Should the Baby Bs bow out, at least a week’s worth of NHL practice would be a decent consolation prize to bridge into the summer. But another four-to-seven games of authentic extramural action—postseason, no less—would be another worthwhile test.

The former scenario would entail more room to slow down and hear the front office’s evaluations. The latter, however, has no developmental substitute in that there is genuine competition from genuine opponents.

The same concept applies to Svedberg, who went 1-1 in rubber games as a first-year North American professional last season. It is one thing to hone oneself under noticeable supervision in practice. It is another to do so before bright lights, fans, a running clock and adversarial shooters.

Regardless, if coerced into a choice, one can likely declare that Svedberg is striving to stave off his Providence swan song more than Spooner.

Chad Johnson’s one-year Tuukka Rask apprenticeship in Boston is unlikely to last beyond this summer’s free agency. The makeup of the Bruins goaltending pipeline calls for Subban to assume the top slot in Providence while Svedberg graduates to back up his fellow Scandinavian in 2014-15.

With that being said, one more solid game, if not one more playoff round of AHL action cannot hurt the drive to stamp the graduation diploma.

Post-game Pop-ups: PawSox 6, Red Wings 2

Swift Summation

After devoting the middle of the week to giving first place in the International League North the hot-potato treatment, the Pawtucket Red Sox inched back ahead of the Rochester Red Wings Friday night.

A five-run outburst in the third inning put the Sox on pace to a 6-2 victory, ensuring a split of their four-game set with the Wings and of their eight-game homestand. At 13-10, Pawtucket sits half a game ahead of Rochester, which holds two games in hand and an 11-10 transcript.

Each side hatched its goose-egg in the third, albeit with a vast discrepancy in emphasis. After shedding first blood, the PawSox batted around to raise a 5-1 upper hand.

With two away in the road half, the Red Wings landed runners at the corners with the help of a walk and a throwing error by Garrin Cecchini. As if on cue, Chris Parmelee deposited a single to right to score Danny Santana for the first run.

Sox centerfielder Corey Brown retorted in the bottom half when he belted Trevor May’s first offering over the left-center fence for a leadoff homer. Three plays later, with Justin Henry on board via a walk, Christian Vazquez helped Pawtucket to a 2-1 edge through an RBI double.

Back-to-back walks filled the bags and Bryce Brentz nudged in a pair of additional runs by dropping his own two-bagger into deep center. Cecchini followed that by shooting to the straightaway warning trach for a sacrifice fly, more than enough to bring home Ryan Lavarnway.

Rochester promptly put two men in scoring position to commence the fifth with a single for Chris Rahl and a double by Dan Rohlfing. But Doug Bernier’s sacrifice fly, which plated Rahl, amounted to the lone visiting run of the inning.

Vazquez and Daniel Nava gave Pawtucket the same start to its half of the same inning with a two-bagger and base hit, respectively. Lavarnway proceeded to fire a liner to left and score Vazquez for a 6-2 advantage.

Back-to-back two-out singles by Deibinson Romero and Eric Farris went for naught in the top of the sixth. Ditto Rohlfing’s leadoff walk in the seventh and Romero’s two-out BB in the eighth.

 

Rohlfing walked once more with one down in the ninth. But Brown's catch on the centerfield warning track and Bernier's strikeout repressed Rochester's last threat.

PawSox Pluses

Two nights after being optioned from Boston, Nava percolated several solid sequences on offense in his first Triple-A appearance of the season. He reached base three times through a single and two walks and stole second with one away in the seventh.

That move arguably prolonged the inning as he subsequently advanced to third while Brentz grounded out on the next pitch. Although, he would end the inning when his attempt to swipe home failed.

Brentz, who patrolled right field, bailed out Cecchini and foiled a run to end the top of the first. He retrieved the remnants of Cecchini’s errant throw to first and zapped Doug Bernier at the plate for the third out.

With his two doubles, Vazquez now has five two-baggers in his last six games played and six in his last nine.

Sox Stains

Cecchini was less fortunate in the wake of his error in the third than he was on his botched toss in the first. If not for Brentz’s aforementioned initiative, the third baseman would have been liable for two consecutive unearned runs on 2014 debutant Matt Barnes’ tab.

Brandon Snyder struck out in all four of his plate appearances, taking a total of 18 offerings from three different pitchers. He incurred two of those “Ks” during the PawSox’ productive third and fifth innings, leaving a cumulative five teammates hanging.

Red Wings Notes

May mustered a mere three innings before giving way to Brooks Raley to commence the fourth. He authorized five earned runs on three hits and four walks with six of his seven baserunners coming in that fateful third.

By the middle of the sixth, every Red Wing had reached base through at least one hit or walk. Farris, who entered Friday's action tied for fourth among qualified I.L. leaders with a .354 batting average, was the lone visitor to record two hits.

Miscellany

Brown’s longball made him the ninth Pawtucket player to record a home run in 2014. He previously led the Syracuse Chiefs with 25 dingers in 2012, tied for that team’s lead with 14 in 2011 and placed second with 19 last year.

Barnes threw five full innings in his first start of the season, incurring six hits and two runs (one earned) while walking and fanning a pair apiece.

With his sac fly and three walks, Cecchini gained no official at bats Friday night.

The opposition has scored first, but managed only a 1-0 advantage, in each of the PawSox’ last three winning efforts.

Post-game Pop-ups: Red Wings 8, PawSox 1

Swift Summation
The statistics took an oath and refused to fool around Thursday afternoon at McCoy Stadium. Beneath the Pawtucket Red Sox’ 8-1 loss to the Rochester Red Wings was a defensive debacle shared by four participating pitchers.

Starter Anthony Ranaudo, who brooked his second defeat in two meetings with Rochester in 2014, joined three colleagues in throwing 168 pitches. That swollen tally was compounded by 72 balls and 20 baserunners—13 via the hit, six through walks and one on a fielding error.

The PawSox cultivated a paltry three innings out of Ranaudo. His final tab for the afternoon yielded 39 strikes, 32 balls and three runs on six hits and four walks.

Rochester only needed to swing at one of Ranaudo’s first 16 pitches to load the bases without delay. An infield single by Danny Santana and back-to-back walks brought up cleanup man Wilkin Ramirez. Ramirez proceeded to foul off five straight before moving everyone up a bag with an RBI single to left.

Two plays later, Eduardo Nunez belted a sacrifice fly to left, summoning the second run in the form of Doug Bernier.

The Red Wings revved up and loaded up again in the second, beginning with Eric Fryer’ one-out single up the middle. Santana followed up by dropping a double into right field and Bernier accepted four unanswered balls for his second walk.

This time, though, an impromptu pep talk led Ranaudo to fan Chris Parmelee and Ramirez, stranding all three runners. Still, his pitch count was already at 54 with only 30 strikes through two stanzas.

In the top of the third, Eric Farris rolled a two-out single up the middle. He augmented Rochester’s lead to 3-0 when he came home via Chris Rahl’s base hit and Bryce Brentz’s fielding error, which let Rahl reach third.

Jeremy Kerht provided anything but relief in the fourth. With a five-pitch walk and a single on a 3-1 delivery, he put Santana and Bernier on the corners as his first two showdowns. Ramirez subsequently plated Santana and sent Bernier, who had stolen second, to third with another deposit on the left-field lawn.

One play later, Will Middlebrooks’ error let Brad Nelson reach first, nudged Ramirez to second and bumped Bernier home. Farris batted in both of the remaining runners when he tripled to the opposite corner in right to swell the difference to 7-0.

Just as they did Wednesday night, the PawSox finally hatched the goose-egg in their run column when the visiting starter was at the dusk of his day. Kris Johnson let a single, error and walk load the bases with two out in the sixth. A subsequent six-pitch pass to Mike McCoy forced Brentz home.

Nelson’s single to center off Dalier Hinojosa’s waved Bernier home from second to restore the seven-run margin in the eighth.

PawSox Pluses

Brentz was the lone challenger to reap multiple hits off Johnson. His fourth- and sixth-inning singles accounted for two-thirds of Pawtucket’s total hits in six innings against the Rochester starter.

Sox Stains

Ranaudo’s inauspicious start generated its first disturbances when two of his early offerings reached the standing batter’s face height. Of the 33 total pitches he racked up in the opening stanza, only 18 went for strikes. Of those strikes, none were of the swing-and-miss variety.

Although McCoy’s passivity paid off on that bases-loaded walk in the sixth, he had a similar opportunity to alter the outlook in the fourth. An identical combination of a single, walk and error loaded the bases for him two down. But he spilled those three runners by lining the first pitch into the glove of Farris in center.

Red Wings Notes

Matt Hoffman relieved Johnson and threw three straight 1-2-3 innings with four strikeouts.

Santana is now 5-for-5 against Ranaudo in 2014, having tripled twice and singled once at Frontier Field on April 14.

Parmelee stretched his hitting streak, which began in Part I of last Thursday’s home doubleheader versus the PawSox, to nine games. Although, he is remarkably hitless in five confrontations with Ranaudo this season, drawing three walks and fanning twice.

Nunez was the only visiting batter not to reach base at any fashion at Ranaudo’s expense. Nonetheless, he factored in to the scoring with credit for an RBI on his sac fly in the first.

Miscellany

The visiting team has won five of the first seven installments of the Red Sox-Red Wings season series. Pawtucket claimed three out of four during last week’s stay at Frontier Field.

Alex Wilson, recently returned from Boston, logged eight pitches in an altogether meaningless 1-2-3 top of the ninth.