Travis Mitchell slung a wrist shot from the left side boards that snuck inside the near post to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead with 9:28 remaining in the first period.Â
Just 1:07 later, Matthew Highmore collected the puck behind the net and wrapped it around on the backhand, before tucking it across the goal line to extend the Bridgeport lead to 2-0.Â
Michael Callahan fired a wrist shot from the point that Joey Abate redirected from the slot inside the right post to cut the Islanders’ lead to 2-1 with 4:45 to play in the first frame. Jake Schmaltz received a secondary assist.Â
Poitras collected a turnover in the slot and slid the puck over to Merkulov at the left post, where he patiently flipped it past the diving goaltender to tie the game at 2-2 with 1:21 left in the first period. Â
Nearing the end of the power play, Patrick Brown slid the puck across the ice to Tufte at the bottom of the right circle, where he hammered a one-timer into the open side of the net to give the P-Bruins a 3-2 lead with 6:13 remaining in the second period. Wolanin was credited with a secondary assist.Â
On the rush, Tufte skated the puck into the right circle and attempted to slide it across the crease, where it deflected off a diving defender and across the goal line to extend the Providence lead to 4-2 just 57 seconds after his previous tally. Poitras received an assist. Â
Tufte dished the puck to Hagens at the bottom of the right circle, where he hammered a one-timer inside the near post for a power play goal to give the P-Bruins a 5-2 lead with 11:34 to play in the third frame. Wolanin was credited with a secondary assist.
Cole Eiserman cut down the slot and redirected a feed from Matt Luff inside the left post for a power play goal to cut the Providence lead to 5-3 with 7:07 left in the third period.
Poitras fired a cross-crease pass to Tufte cutting towards the crease, where he redirected it into the net for his third goal of the game to give the P-Bruins a 6-3 lead with 5:16 remaining in the third period. Merkulov received a secondary assist.Â
Cole McWard’s slap shot from the point found the back of the net to shrink the Providence lead to 6-4 with 2:53 to play in the third frame.  Â