USHL Dubuque Fighting Saints

Fighting Five: Dubuque Starts Weekend against Riders

Published on February 16, 2024 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Dubuque Fighting Saints News Release


DUBUQUE, IA - The Dubuque Fighting Saints (26-9-3-3, 58 pts) host the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (16-19-4-2, 38 pts) to open a three-game weekend on Friday night.

Here are five things to know ahead of the matchup:

1. Busy Bunch

The Fighting Saints begin their third of four total three-game weekends on Friday night when they host Cedar Rapids. In their first three-in-three, the Saints swept Sioux City, Cedar Rapids and Green Bay right before the holiday break in December.

When they returned to play, the Saints skated in their second three-game weekend. The Saints opened it with their first road victory in Des Moines this season, but fell in a shootout to Waterloo the next night before a regulation loss against the Black Hawks to finish the weekend.

Overall, the Saints have points in five of the six games from their first two three-game weekends, including four victories.

2. Rapid Response

After allowing a 4-1 lead to dissipate last Friday night against the RoughRiders, the Fighting Saints rebounded immediately with a convincing 6-1 victory over Waterloo on Saturday night.

The Fighting Saints dominated from the jump, outshooting Waterloo 11-3 in the opening period. Dubuque built its lead in the second period with three goals, and added to it with a pair of tallies in the third. The Saints penalty kill shined once more with six kills on six chances against Waterloo's dangerous power play.

3. Season Series

Friday will be the sixth meeting of the season between the two teams. The road team has won each of the first five contests.

The Fighting Saints took care of business in the first three meetings of the year, all in Cedar Rapids on Sept. 30, Nov. 18 and Dec. 15. Combined, the Saints outscored the Riders 13-5 in the three road victories.

With just a 6-11-2-1 home record and a 9-7-2-1 road record, the Riders responded and took both of the last two meetings in Dubuque. After a 5-2 win on Jan. 19, Cedar Rapids secured a 5-4 overtime win last Friday night.

4. 20/20 Väisänen

Saints defenseman Joona Väisänen was named the USHL Defenseman of the Week for his performance last weekend. In a pair of games, Väisänen scored once and added a pair of assists. The blue-liner also logged a plus-two rating in both games to lift his overall rating to plus-22. That rating leads the Fighting Saints and is among the top 10 in the entire USHL.

Among all USHL defensemen, Väisänen's 28 total points are the fourth-most. Since returning from World Juniors, where he represented Finland, Väisänen has played in nine games. Of those nine contests, the Western Michigan-commit has points in six of them. He's scored four times in those games and has added three assists for seven points.

5. Horsin' Around

The Riders won back-to-back games for just the fifth time all season last weekend with wins over the Saints and Chicago.

In Saturday's win at home against Chicago, the RoughRiders power play converted on three of its eight chances, totaling four power-play goals last weekend. Overall, the Riders power play is sixth in the Eastern Conference and 10th overall at 19.1%.

Friday's game begins at 7:05 at ImOn Arena in Dubuque and tickets can be purchased here. The game can be found on Eagle 102.3 and FloHockey.

Check out the Dubuque Fighting Saints Statistics

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



United States Hockey League Stories from February 16, 2024


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