Fighting Five: Saints Wrap up Weekend Set with Phantoms
January 4, 2025 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Dubuque Fighting Saints News Release
DUBUQUE, IA - The Dubuque Fighting Saints (21-9-0-0, 42 pts) host the Youngstown Phantoms (17-12-0-0, 34 pts) for the second of a weekend-series on Saturday night.
Here are five things to know ahead of the matchup:
1. Saints Swarm
The Fighting Saints killed all five Youngstown power plays in Friday night's 4-1 victory over the Phantoms, including three in the third period. The third frame featured a 40-second two-man advantage for Youngstown that Dubuque stopped to hold a 3-1 lead before Josh Giuliani's empty-netter iced the game late.
The Saints improved to third-place in the Eastern Conference at 79.8% with the perfect night against the Phantoms on Friday.
2. Coombs Cashes
Ritter Coombs extended his hot-streak with his second multi-point game of the season on Friday night. Coombs has points in four of the last five and five of the last seven games to break the 10-point mark in Friday's win.
Coombs has six goals and five assists in his rookie campaign with four goals and six points in the last seven games. Coombs earned his first power-play point of the season with an assist on Lucas Van Vliet's tally on Friday night.
3. Strong Start
The Saints entered Friday having been outscored 25-18 in the opening period this season. The Saints flipped that trend and scored two in the first frame on Friday.
Torkel Jennersjö opened the scoring with his eighth of the season before Van Vliet's 10th on the power play opened a 2-0 lead to end the first period.
4. Two-for-Two
Edison Engle assisted on Van Vliet's power-play goal to score his second point in as many games for Dubuque. Engle has a goal and an assist through two games skating for the Saints.
In 20 games for Des Moines before being acquired by Dubuque on Dec. 28, the defenseman had four points and a minus-four rating. In two games for the Saints, the Ohio State commit has two points and a plus-two rating.
5. Phantom Files
The Phantoms' penalty kill enters Saturday's matchup at 80.0% after a goal against in two chances on Friday night, ranking second in the Eastern Conference.
Despite the high ranking, Youngstown has allowed a power-play goal in six-consecutive contests and eight total goals in 25 chances during that stretch (68.0%).
Saturday's game begins at 7:05 p.m. CST and tickets can be purchased here. The game will be available on Eagle 102.3 and FloHockey.
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United States Hockey League Stories from January 4, 2025
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- Fighting Five: Saints Wrap up Weekend Set with Phantoms - Dubuque Fighting Saints
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