Providence, 7-1

Will anyone stop the Providence express? Aside from an Andrew Ebbett third-period goal, it was all Providence, as the P-Bruins took a 2-0 lead over Portland in the best-of-seven series before 3,360 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center.

Martins Karsums led the offense with a hat trick, while Petteri Nokelainen added two goals and Pascal Pelletier had a three-assist day. Tuukka Rask stopped 11 of 12 shots before he was relieved in the third period by Jordan Sigalet in mop-up duty.

"Real consistent," coach Scott Gordon said of his team's play. "We've pretty much played 60 minutes every game, which is a hard thing to do."

* Jeff Hoggan didn't play because of an injury in Game 1 that required stitches in his left arm. Zach Hamill, a healthy scratch in Game 1, stepped into the lineup and registered an assist on T.J. Trevelyan's game-opening goal.

* Nokelainen played mostly at center for Gordon earlier this season. But Nokelainen has been playing on the right wing. Nokelainen crashed the net on his first goal, then raced down the ice prior to his second strike to wipe out an icing penalty.

* Matt Hunwick and Sean Curry led all players with plus-3 ratings.

* Not much in terms of presence from Bobby Ryan, the second overall pick from the 2005 draft behind Sidney Crosby. Ryan had two shots and was a minus-3.