USHL Madison Capitols

Caps' Strong Effort Not Enough; Lancers Edge out Win in OT

Published on February 12, 2016 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Madison Capitols News Release


Ralston, NE - The Madison Capitols (16-20-3-3) kept pace all night in a tightly contested affair with the Omaha Lancers (21-16-2-1) before falling 3-2 in overtime on Friday night inside Ralston Arena.

With the sting of Wednesday's crushing shootout loss to Muskegon fresh on their minds, the Capitols responded with one of their stronger opening periods of the season on the road, outshooting the Lancers 12-6 in the first period.

The Capitols successfully fended off the game's lone power play in the opening period, and Drew Hotte, in his first start as a Capitol, made a pair of clutch saves on two-on-one rushes from the Lancers' Josh French and Nathan Krusko.

At the other end, the Capitols kept knocking on the door in a first period that saw the Capitols hit a crossbar courtesy of Tyson McLellan and get two slot chances from Luke McElhenie.

At 15:03, the Capitols finally broke through off a face off play. Dmitri Buinitsky picked up a puck with his back to the net in the slot and twisted a turnaround bid over the net. The rebound caromed to the front of the net fortuitously to Buinitsky, who then made a slick feed to Eugene Fadyeyev to push the Capitols in front 1-0. It was Fadyeyev's second of the season, and Buinitsky picked up a point for the fourth time in his first six USHL games.

Lancers captain Nick Rivera took it upon himself to bring his team back after a sloppy first period. First, the red-hot forward stole the puck in center on a Capitol power play, raced in alone on the left side and beat Hotte at 6:24 to tie the game with his second shorthanded goal of the season.

Rivera's second period was not complete, to the chagrin of the Capitols, as Omaha picked up its second power play chance with just under three minutes left in the frame, and from the right corner, Rivera stunned Hotte by banking it off of the goaltender for his 19th of the season at 18:07 to put Omaha on top 2-1.

Madison had a glorious chance to tie the game in the period's final minute, first as Ryan Lohin was hauled down in front after finding an opening behind the Omaha defense. He took a saucer pass from Sam McCormick and tried to backhand one past Zack Skog, but could not control the puck.

Lohin did draw a penalty, and on the ensuing power play, the Capitols were able to register a handful of scoring chances in the period's final minute, but Skog held firm in his crease with the one-goal lead.

While the Capitols would not score on the carry-over power play time, their man advantage would lend a helping hand to tie the score. At 5:14 of the third, on their third power play of the night, Marcel Godbout moved in on the right wing wall and snapped a quick shot that surprised Skog, beating him on the glove side to tie the game, 2-2.

Both Skog and Hotte would be asked to come up large in the final minutes of regulation as the teams traded dangerous opportunities to crack the deadlock.

Ultimately, the game would need extra time to decide a victor. The Capitols appeared to have the game salted away when Lohin stole a misplayed puck at the side of the net and found McCormick in front, but the Caps' leading scorer had his shot clang off the iron.

Just moments later, in the midst of a jailbreak line change at their bench, the Lancers moved in on a slow-developing rush. French softly played a backhand pass to defenseman Nick Jenny, who slammed home a one-timer past Hotte's blocker arm to win it for Omaha, the Lancers' second straight overtime triumph. It was just Jenny's second goal of the season at 3:43 of overtime.

In the defeat, Hotte recorded 27 stops. Omaha narrowly outshot Madison 30-28 in the neck-and-neck affair. The Capitols exit Ralston Arena and begin the trek back east to take on the Des Moines Buccaneers on Saturday at Buccaneer Arena. Puck drop is slated for 7:05 p.m. on 106.7 FM, 1670 AM The Zone.

The Capitols return home for a two-game weekend on Friday & Saturday, March 11-12, at the Alliant Energy Center for a pair of 7:05 p.m. puck drops against Sioux Falls and Youngstown respectively.

March 11 marks the Capitols' Cross Check Cancer initiative, as proceeds from ticket package purchases will benefit the UW Carbone Cancer Center, in conjunction with UW Health Sports Medicine, the Capitols' 2015-16 presenting sponsor.

March 12 brings about the return of four-legged friends to the Coliseum on Pucks N' Paws night, presented by Animart. Dogs will be permitted into the Alliant Energy Center on game night, and each pup will receive a doggy goody bag!

For more ticket information regarding future Capitols games back at the Alliant Energy Center, please call (608) 257-CAPS or visit www.MadCapsHockey.com.

Check out the Madison Capitols Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



United States Hockey League Stories from February 12, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central