De St. Phalle Nets Hat Trick, Steel Reach 40 Wins
March 6, 2020 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Chicago Steel News Release
DUBUQUE, IOWA - Through the first 30 minutes of action, the Chicago Steel (40-7-1-0, 81 pts) and Dubuque Fighting Saints (32-13-1-0, 65 pts) engaged in a tight, back-and-forth battle before Chicago netted six unanswered goals to pull away for a 7-2 win Friday night at the Mystique Community Ice Center in Dubuque.
The victory was Chicago's 12th in a row dating back to Feb. 7.
Mathieu De St. Phalle registered his first career hat trick and added a helper while Gunnarwolfe Fontaine picked up two assists to reach the 100-point milestone in his Steel career.
The Fighting Saints held one-goal leads on two brief occasions but the Steel kept the Eastern Conference foe within reach before exploding for six goals over the final 31 minutes of play.
Dubuque's first lead of the night came when a Kaelen Taylor shot from the left point found its way through the Steel defense and eventually reached Matt Kopperud in front of the net.
Kopperud got his stick down to the ice in time to tip home his 17th goal of the season and grab the early lead for the home team.
Less than a minute later, Chicago fought back to even up the score in the early going. Elis Hede gained the Steel offensive zone on the left wing as Matt Coronato tagged up in the middle of the ice. Hede drew Fighting Saints defenseman Aidan Fulp to him and hit a streaking Coronato down the middle of the ice. The Harvard-bound forward ripped home a wrister, extending his season-best point streak (7G, 5A) to eight games.
The two markers in a 32-second span were the only blemishes for Dubuque netminder Aidan McCarthy and Steel goaltender Victor Ostman through the first 20 minutes.
Stephen Halliday put the Saints back in front early in the middle frame as he capitalized on a 3- on-2 rush. Robert Cronin fired a shot from the right circle that was initially stopped by Ostman but the rebound bounced right to Halliday who charted his 11th goal of the season.
Brendan Brisson got a prime chance to tie the game with a one-timer from the right circle but was turned away by the right pad of McCarthy with 13:30 left in the period. Over the next five minutes of action, Brisson proved vital as the Steel offense came to life.
Halfway through the middle frame, the Manhattan Beach, Calif., native drove the right side of the net and threw a pass on his backhand across the crease to De St. Phalle who had an open net to tie the game.
Brisson then got a goal of his own to take the lead for his club exactly one minute later. The forward settled in the left circle as Sean Farrell won a board battle in the left corner and fed a locked and loaded one-time cannon from Brisson.
The Steel tallied a power-play goal for the seventh straight game to extend the lead to two, late in the middle frame. Chicago set up the man advantage and went from Fontaine to Owen Power to De St. Phalle who was set up in the left circle for his second marker of the evening. Fontaine registered his second assist of the night on the PPG, becoming just the seventh player in Chicago franchise history to record 100 points wearing the Steel crest.
Sam Colangelo took a hooking penalty four minutes into the third but made up for his infraction after his teammates cancelled out the two-minute minor. Colangelo was released from the sin bin and took a long lead pass from De St. Phalle, springing him from the neutral zone to the net all alone. Colangelo flipped a backhand shot past McCarthy, putting his club ahead by three and extending his point streak to eight games.
Power joined the goal-scoring barrage shortly thereafter when he circled the offensive zone, fighting off two defenders and rocketing home a wrister on McCarthy's glove side.
The goal expanded Chicago's lead to 6-2 before De St. Phalle closed the game with his first career hat trick.
On a power-play set up, Mackie Samoskevich found Jimmy Dowd Jr. crashing the net with a back-door feed before Dowd Jr. slid the puck to De St. Phalle who held his position in front of the net. De St. Phalle gathered the puck and tapped it home on his backhand to put the icing on the cake for his club.
Ostman made 30 saves in his 25th win of the season between the Steel pipes, matching a franchise-best for single-season victories by a netminder.
Chicago extended its record when leading after two periods to 29-0-0-0 on the season with the victory on Friday night and are now 3-0-0-0 against the Fighting Saints during the 2019-20 campaign.
The Steel and Saints head to Fox Valley Ice Arena for the second half of the home-and-home set and final contest of the four-game regular-season series on Sat., March 7 at 7:05 pm.
The matchup against Dubuque is the Third Annual Wiener Dog Races hosted by Chicago, with races contested during both intermissions. Saturday's game is a Raising Cane's Kids Day, a ticket deal for kids ages 13 and younger that includes a red zone ticket, a drawstring backpack and Raising Cane's Kids Combo card for just $10.
Chicago Steel games may be heard on Mixlr at http://mixlr.com/chicago-steel/ (AUDIO) and video may be streamed on available devices through HockeyTV at www.hockeytv.com (VIDEO).
Chicago Steel Upcoming Games:
Sat., March 7 vs. Dubuque Fighting Saints 7:05 pm (Third Annual Wiener Dog Races, Raising Cane's Kids Day)
Sat., March 14 vs. Green Bay Gamblers 7:05 pm (Military Appreciation/Hometown Heroes Night with Jersey Auction to benefit Wounded Warriors Project presented by McCue Chevy)
Sun., March 15 vs. Green Bay Gamblers 3:05 pm (Giveaway: 20th Season Youth Replica Jersey presented by Waubonsee Community College *Kids 14 and under, Xfinity Skate with the Steel)
For more information and to purchase Steel tickets, call 855-51-STEEL or visit ChicagoSteelHockeyTeam.com.
United States Hockey League Stories from March 6, 2020
- Gamblers Take Down the Stars in Game One - Green Bay Gamblers
- Comeback Falls Short in Des Moines - Omaha Lancers
- Storm Fall to Lumberjacks 4-1 - Tri-City Storm
- De St. Phalle Nets Hat Trick, Steel Reach 40 Wins - Chicago Steel
- Capitols Dominate Team USA in 6-1 Victory - Madison Capitols
- Lots of Shots Yield Hawks Win - Waterloo Black Hawks
- Stampede Upended up North in Fargo - Sioux Falls Stampede
- Steel Too Much for Saints, Win 7-2 - Dubuque Fighting Saints
- Phantoms Fall to Shorthanded Cedar Rapids 5-2 - Youngstown Phantoms
- Herd to Wear Blue on St. Patrick's Day Game - Sioux Falls Stampede
- Preview: Tri-City Begins March with Annual "Pack It in Purple" Game - Tri-City Storm
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