Wild Overtime Ends in Fighting Saints Shootout Win
February 21, 2016 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Dubuque Fighting Saints News Release
WATERLOO, Iowa - An intense, non-stop overtime, preceded by 60 thrilling minutes of regulation, solved nothing. It took six rounds of a shootout for Dallas Gerads to knot the game-winner in a 3-2 win over the Waterloo Black Hawks on Saturday night, completing the sweep of the home-and-home series.
Hunter Miska stopped all six Waterloo shooters in the shootout, icing the win with a save on Waterloo captain Ronnie Hein. The Minnesotan was tremendous throughout regulation and overtime, stopping 32 shots for his league-leading 23rd win of the season. Gerads wired a slap shot in the top of the sixth round, scoring the only goal of the shootout
Overtime solved nothing, although for six minutes and ten seconds, it almost solved everything. No whistles in that span created numerous chances every which way. Neither team could capitalize on any chance, as Garrett Metcalf and Miska dueled toe-to-toe in the extra session.
Miska held the fort down the stretch, getting a little help from the post on a late shorthanded scoring opportunity from Waterloo defenseman Jake Ryczek, and some help from pure unpredictability, making a twirling roundhouse kick save on a late Black Hawks scoring chance.
The game would not have been tied without the result of a powder keg exploding midway through the second period. When the dust settled on the altercation, the Fighting Saints ended up on a power play. Following a tremendous save by Metcalf, the Saints never gave up on the play. Brett Boeing's point shot through traffic found the stick of Willie Knierim, who deflected his tenth goal of the season into the net, and tied the game at two.
That was the response to two Waterloo goals early in the second period. Nick Swaney started the scoring for the home team, deflecting a cross-crease pass into the goal just 44 seconds into the middle frame. Liam Pecararo responded to that goal ten minutes later on a Waterloo power play.
Unlike last night, it was Dubuque who started the scoring. Colin Theisen, in the closing moments of a power play, deflected a cross-ice dish from Gerads. The Dartmouth commit wired a one-time blast through the pads of Metcalf to open the scoring at the 13:35 mark.
Saturday's game featured ten power plays, 95 penalty minutes, and 26 penalties in total.
The Fighting Saints complete the weekend in Bloomington to take on the challenging Thunder on Sunday afternoon. Puck drops at 3:00 p.m. Catch all of the action on the flagship station of the Fighting Saints, Dubuque's Super Hits 106.1 FM, or via the USHL's streaming video provider, FASTHockey.
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United States Hockey League Stories from February 21, 2016
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- Thunder Wrap up Weekend with Dubuque - Bloomington Thunder
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- Wild Overtime Ends in Fighting Saints Shootout Win - Dubuque Fighting Saints
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