Fighting Five: Saints Visit Lumberjacks in Game 3 on Tuesday

April 29, 2025 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Dubuque Fighting Saints News Release

MUSKEGON, MI - The No. 2 Dubuque Fighting Saints (41-18-1-2) visit the No. 4 Muskegon Lumberjacks (38-16-4-4) in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final on Tuesday, with Muskegon leading the series 2-0.

Here are five things to know ahead of the matchup:

1. Saturday Slide

The Fighting Saints allowed seven goals during a loss in Game 2 on Saturday. Dubuque allowed seven goals just once over the entire regular season, a 7-3 loss to Waterloo on March 21.

Dubuque, however, lost three games in a row just one time all season. The Saints were one of five teams in the league this season to not lose more than four-consecutive games and one of four teams with three games as its longest skid.

2. Winning Ways

Trailing 2-0 in the best-of-five series, Dubuque will have to win three-consecutive games to advance to the Clark Cup Final. Over the course of the season, including the playoffs, the Fighting Saints have won three-straight games on 10 different occasions.

In the Conference Semifinals against Madison, the Fighting Saints finished the series with three-straight wins. Two of those three wins came on the road, where the Saints have 21 wins in 32 games over the regular and postseason.

3. Pressure Points

The Fighting Saints turned up the pressure in Game 2 to start the third period, scoring three goals over the first 9:33 of the period.

The team's offense in Game 2 was led by Lucas Van Vliet, who recorded his second three-point game in the team's six playoff games. Van Vliet leads the Fighting Saints with nine points in the postseason so far. Edison Engle also added a pair of assists from the blue line in the 7-4 loss.

4. Saints Shift

The Fighting Saints allowed a pair of power-play goals in the opening period of the loss in Game 2 after not allowing a Muskegon power-play chance in Game 1.

Dubuque killed all 10 Capitols' power plays in the four-game win over Madison in the last round. The Jacks finished Game 2 with two goals in three chances, while the Saints scored their first power-play goal of the entire season against Muskegon in Game 2 and are 1-for-7 in the series.

5. Muskegon Minute

The Lumberjacks' top line was held to just one point in Game 1 of this series, but the trio of Ivan Ryabkin, David Deputy and Tynan Lawrence exploded for nine points in Game 2.

Ryabkin scored a hat trick and recorded four points, while Deputy scored twice and had three points and Lawrence assisted twice in Game 2.

Tuesday's Game 3 begins at 6:10 p.m. CST at Trinity Health Arena and can be found on Eagle 102.3 and FloHockey.

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