PROVIDENCE — Here we go again.

For the fourth time in the last five seasons, the Providence Bruins and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

Penguins will collide in the Calder Cup playoffs. Game One is Friday at 7:05 p.m. at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

While players and coaches on both teams have come and gone since the first series in 2013, the results have been the same: The Penguins have moved on to the next round, while the P-Bruins have gone home for the summer.

“I’m absolutely sick of losing to them,’’ said Providence coach Kevin Dean, who is in his first season as head coach after five seasons as an assistant coach. “The series are always good and, to [the Penguins’] credit, they always seem to play a little bit harder, a little bit better. We’ve got to flip that somehow.’’

Coached by Rhode Islander Clark Donatelli, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton finished atop the Atlantic Division and recorded the best winning percentage — .704 — in the American Hockey League in the regular season. The P-Bruins finished fourth in the Atlantic Division and eighth overall with a .632 winning percentage.

The teams are evenly matched. Both are well-balanced on offense and strong on defense, with excellent goaltending. The Penguins allowed the fewest goals in the league; Providence was fourth. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton had the AHL’s top penalty kill; the P-Bruins were second.

Neither team had a player inside the AHL’s top 25 scorers in the regular season. Future AHL Hall of Famer Tom Kostopoulos led the Pens with 24 goals and 54 points, while Jordan Szwarz had 22 goals and 54 points for the P-Bruins.

Lineups could change as the series goes on, but for Game One, both teams expect to be missing important players who are on recall with Boston and Pittsburgh. For Providence, captain Tommy Cross, Noel Acciari and Sean Kuraly are with Boston. For the Pens, Tristan Jarry and Josh Archibald are with the parent club.

“Most people, I’m sure,” Dean said, “are viewing us as the underdog, especially given that Noel, Sean and Tommy aren’t here. But I welcome that.

“Our team identity this year is a little different. We’re not the high-scoring, outscore-you team. That might be helpful. We’ve got to go out and play hard and heavy, get pucks to the net and take advantage of our chances.”

Generating offense against the Penguins hasn’t been easy.

“They’re awfully good defensively,” Dean said. “I think scoring’s going to be our challenge. That being said, if we keep it tight, we’ll be in every game, and you never know.”

Casey DeSmith is expected to start in goal for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in Game One.

DeSmith and Providence’s Zane McIntyre are two of the top goalies in the AHL and have nearly identical numbers. McIntyre was 21-6-2 with a .930 save percentage and a 2.03 goals-against average. DeSmith was 21-5-3 with a .926 save percentage and a 2.01 goals-against average.

“He’s terrific,’’ Dean said of DeSmith, who backstopped the Pens to last spring’s sweep over the P-Bruins in three overtime games. “We’ve got to get in front of him, get second chances. Get some ugly ones on him. We haven’t beat him clean with too many shots. Our goals on him have been rebounds, second chances, side to side.’’

No one has a better read on the Penguins than Providence assistant coach Jay Leach, who was Donatelli’s assistant with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season.

“We’re going to have to be really disciplined in the way we play,” Leach said. “They do play a really disciplined style. Clark does a nice job with their defensive structure and their transition game is good.

“We’re really just going to have to be on the ball with our systems. You’re not going to cheat your way out of this one. But if we come ready to go and really play the way that we can and have throughout the year, then we will have a good chance. That’s what we’ve been preaching this week and it’s what we see on the video.’’

Of course, it’s an open question how much impact, if any, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s three series wins in four seasons will have on this year’s meeting.

“The players change, as you see here, on a month-to-month basis,” Leach said. “I’ll bet you half of these kids don’t even know [about the history between the teams], and the same could probably be said [for the Penguins], as well.

“They’re just in the here and now and they know that the Pens are a good team — the best team in the league — and we’re chomping at the opportunity to try and take them down.’’