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Caps Explode for 7 Goals Behind Haskins Hat Trick in Friday Night Triumph

February 26, 2022 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Madison Capitols News Release


The Madison Capitols exploded for seven goals and downed the Cedar Rapids Rough Riders 7-3 in tonight's series opener. Capitols forward and Michigan commit Tyler Haskins netted the Capitols first hat trick of the 2021-22 campaign, finding the back of the net in all three periods.

Anaheim Ducks draft pick and Michigan Tech commit Kyle Kukkonen got the Caps off to a hot start when he rifled home a wrist shot just 3:58 into tonight's contest. Defenseman Ben Dexheimer tallied his first of two assists on the play. Madison would take a 2-0 lead into the intermission after Haskins scored his first goal 20 seconds into a power play attempt with nine minutes to play in the period.

Cedar Rapids answered with a pair of goals in the 2nd period but so did the Caps. Captain Casey Severo netted his 10th goal of the season after the Capitols made a nice play to hold the zone and find Severo in space to finish the job. Forwards Kyle Kukkonen and Quinn Finley assisted on the Severo strike at 8:58 of the middle frame. Haskins registered his second goal of the night with 1:11 to go in the second period when he got a stick on a DJ Hart shot from the point, that rainbowed into the back of the Rough Riders net. Forward Jake Dunlap tallied the secondary assist on the goal.

After a lengthy delay due to post-whistle extracurriculars, the Caps extended their lead just 10 seconds into 4-on-4 play. Madison won the faceoff, made a great breakout play to quickly move the puck north. Severo fed a breaking Finley in the slot with 10:39 left in regulation to make it 5-2. 38 seconds later, forward Nick DeSantis corralled a misplayed puck just inside the attacking blueline, went in all alone and buried 5-hole to give the Caps a 6-2 lead. Haskins hat trick clinching goal was the nail in the coffin when Dunlap made a move in space and found the centerman wide open backdoor.

"It was a good win for the team but it was a battle tonight," Capitols head coach Tommy Upton said. "They're a good team and they play us extremely hard. The guys stuck to our game plan all night long and we were rewarded with a big two points for us."

Caps netminder Simon Latkoczy moved into first place in the Eastern Conference tonight with his 18th win of the season. The Omaha commit stopped 38 of the 41 shots he faced and made multiple big time saves.

These two Eastern Conference rivals will battle it out all over again tomorrow night in the series finale from Cedar Rapids Ice Arena. Puck drop slated for 7:05 p.m.

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