Fighting Saints Take Series Advantage in Game 3 Win
May 6, 2016 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Dubuque Fighting Saints News Release
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - There were goals- ten of them, in fact. Dubuque won the race in an action-packed Game 3 by a final score of 6-4 on Friday night at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum on Friday night.
Joey Keane's insurance marker early in the third period proved to be the game-winning marker. Holding the puck at the top of the zone, Keane unleashed a wrist shot that found a way through Thunder goaltender Hayden Lavigne at the 2:37 mark of the final frame. It had to stand, because Bloomington did not quit.
Patrick Curry cut Dubuque's two-goal advantage down to one in the dying moments of the game. Out of a net-mouth scramble, Curry got the last touch. But on a final set play, dynamo defenseman Jeremy Davies' shot from the left point was blocked by Casey Johnson, and furthered ahead to Nathan Sucese who delivered the dagger into the empty net to seal the 6-4 win.
The Fighting Saints needed an explosive second period to outscore the Thunder on this night. Down 2-1 after the first, the visitors came out flying.
Mitchell Smith began the second period with a sequence that seemed to never end. Up a man early in the frame, Dubuque held the puck in the offensive zone for all two minutes of the power play. Eight seconds after the penalty expired, the Smith twins connected on a goal, as Evan found Mitchell at the netfront, and he pounded the puck home to tie the game at two.
30 seconds later, it was Michael O'Leary scoring his fourth goal of the Eastern Conference Final. Not his most artistic, a sharp-angle pass that deflected off of a Bloomington defender and into the top corner.
Defenseman Cam Spicer tied it up for Bloomington, but Dubuque struck right back. A power play goal by Keegan Ford, who also continued his hot stretch against the Thunder, put the Saints up 4-3 after two. They would not relinquish the lead after that point forward.
Bloomington came out firing in the first, scoring on seven of nine shots taken. Alec Mehr got the scoring started on a two-on-one break, and Blake Gober answered a spectacular Shane Kavanagh shorthanded tally to put the home squad up one after one period of play.
Penalties in this game were stick fouls, and there were power play goals galore. Two aside, as the Fighting Saints went 2-for-4 with the man advantage, and Bloomington 2-for-8 on the power play. That matched Bloomington's mark of eight power plays total from the last time the Saints visited the U.S. Cellular Coliseum back on February 21.
Game 4, and a chance to clinch the Eastern Conference Final and move on to the Clark Cup Final, is tomorrow, Saturday, May 7 at 7:00 p.m. Join all of the action on Dubuque's Super Hits 106.1 FM starting at 6:50, or follow along on the USHL's streaming video provider, FASTHockey.
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United States Hockey League Stories from May 6, 2016
- Thunder Down 2-1 in Eastern Conference Final - Bloomington Thunder
- Fighting Saints Take Series Advantage in Game 3 Win - Dubuque Fighting Saints
- Jake Kielly Dominates Waterloo, 3-0, in Game 3 to Give Storm 2-1 Series Lead - Tri-City Storm
- Hawks Prepare for Must-Win Saturday - Waterloo Black Hawks
- Three Former Stars to Play Internationally - Lincoln Stars
- Lancers' Skog Commits to American International College - Omaha Lancers
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