PROVIDENCE -- Providence goalie Jordan Sigalet has had success against Albany this season.

He entered last night's game with a 1-1-1 record and a 2.61 goals-against average against the River Rats.

But Albany had Sigalet's number last night. He only lasted two minutes and 51 seconds.

That's how long it took Albany right wing Shane Willis to score his eighth and ninth goals of the season.

Philippe Sauve came in to take Sigalet's place but he didn't fair much better. Albany scored four goals in the first 10 minutes of the game and went on to win its fourth straight contest by handing Providence its second consecutive loss at the Dunkin' Donuts Center, 5-2, in a game that Providence was never in.

Providence coach Scott Gordon said that it was the P-Bruins' poor play with the puck that led to their demise.

"We made poor decisions," Gordon said. "You can't throw the puck rink wide. You can't throw the puck up the middle twice in one shift -- that leads to a penalty and gives them a power play. . . . When we had the puck on the stick, we made poor decisions."

Providence didn't give itself a chance to win the game. Two of Albany's first-period scores came on turnovers inside the P-Bruins' zone.

"They were in the right place to pick it off, but the fault lies on the guy who [has the puck]," Gordon said. "They are the ones who make the plays and they tried to make plays that didn't have to be made and shouldn't be made."

It only took 49 seconds for Albany to set the tone of the game. That's when Willis stole a pass in Providence's zone and scored on the ensuing break. Just over two minutes later, Willis scored a power-play goal from between the circles on a slap shot.

Providence was hoping that Suave, who wasn't expecting to play last night, would stop the bleeding. Though he did catch the first shot he faced, Albany continued to tear open the wound and went up leading, 4-0, before the midway point of the first period.

River Rats center Scott Kelman stole a pass in Providence's territory and beat Suave 8:31 into the period. Albany defenseman Kyle Cumiskey scored on a wrist shot from between the circles just over a minute later.

Providence rookie T.J. Trevelyan cut Albany's advantage to 4-1 before the first period ended but Providence was not able to climb out of the hole it dug itself in the opening period.

"We gave up four goals on six shots and it's hard to imagine but we controlled the play territorially," Gordon said. "We had 15 shots and I know we had more than that because there were a series of flurries where we had more than one shot but the shots didn't go up (on the scoreboard)."

Officially, Providence outshot Albany 15-8 in the first session but the P-Bruins couldn't get the puck by Albany goalie Justin Peters (24 saves).

"Even when the game was out of hand, [Peters] kept making some pretty good saves," Gordon said. "He's had three good games against us and we have not been able to solve him."

Providence's defense played well in the second period before Albany scored a deflating power play goal with 1.1 seconds left to go up 5-1. Suave stopped Jakub Petruzalek's shot, but Matt Murley punched in the rebound.

Nate Thompson nearly scored for Providence 2:30 into the third period when he stole the puck from Albany defenseman Tim Conboy and went in on a breakaway. However, his shot missed wide left.

Providence took three shots during a pileup in front of Albany's net 7:27 into the period but none of them got by Peters. Peters is 3-1-0 against Providence this season.

Jeremy Reich closed the gap to 5-2 when he redirected Matt Lashoff's shot from the blue line into the goal with 6:46 left.

ICE CHIPS: Providence forward T.J. Trevelyan has been a terrific addition to the P-Bruins' lineup. Last night he scored his fifth goal in just his eighth AHL game.

In head-to-head action this season against the River Rats, Providence center David Krejci leads the P-Bruins in scoring with a goal and three assists. Winger Kris Versteeg has three goals.

Normally when one team begins to score a lot of goals, the other team looks to mix it up. Last night was no different. Reich, Providence's left winger, went at it with Albany defenseman Tim Conboy at 13:07 of the first period, and Providence defenseman Mark Stuart and Albany right wing Cody McCormick exchanged punches at 16:08 of the second period.

Reich now has over 300 career penalty minutes in two seasons with Providence.

Versteeg, who leads the P-Bruins in scoring (13 goals, 14 assists), and defenseman Bobby Allen were scratched from the lineup last night. Gordon said Versteeg won't be available until next weekend.

Former P-Bruin Ben Guite had an assist last night for Albany. It was his 15th point of the season.

The P-Bruins are on the road today for a rare Sunday away game. Providence visits Lowell at Tsongas Arena at 4:05 p.m. The contest begins a stretch of eight straight road games. Providence does not return home until Friday, Jan. 5, when it hosts Worcester.

roblee@projo.com / (401) 277-7340