USHL Madison Capitols

Gamble Almost Pays Off

Published on December 9, 2016 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Madison Capitols News Release


MADISON, WI - The Madison Capitols were edged to the Green Bay Gamblers, 4-3, at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Friday night.

Madison (8-12-1-1) is ranked seventh in the Eastern Conference with 18 points. Green Bay (13-10-1-0) is tied for fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 27 points.

Left wing Jared Spooner doubled the Gamblers lead to 4-2 at 11:05 of the third period for the eventual game-winning goal. At the right point, forward Dante Palecco passed the puck to defenseman Connor Mackey at the center point who forwarded the pass over to Spooner at the left point. Spooner skated into the left face-off circle and snapped a wrist shot through traffic and into the net for his ninth goal of the season and second power play goal of the night.

The Gamblers struck first with right wing Nolan Moyle's third goal of the season. Defenseman Rourke Russell held the puck in at the left point and fired a shot toward the net. Moyle knocked down the high shot between the hash marks, turned around, and backhanded a shot high over Capitols goaltender Daniel Lebedeff's left shoulder to give the Gamblers a 1-0 lead at 5:15 of the first period.

At 10:46 of the opening frame, Capitols center Eetu Selanne tied the game at 1-1. Right wing Easton Brodzinski collected the puck in the bottom of the right face-off circle, side stepped a fallen defenseman, and fed a pass to Selanne on the right doorstep. Selanne one-timed the puck past Gamblers goaltender Maksim Zhukov's blocker for his second goal of the season.

Madison took their only lead of the game at 16:47 of the second period. Defenseman Robby Fosdick shot the puck from the top of the left face-off circle. The shot bounced off the end boards on the left side of the net, and center Noah Weber picked up the loose puck to finish off a wrap around for his fifth goal of the season.

Green Bay tied the game at 2-2 at 18:36 of the middle frame. Forward Brody Stevens passed the puck from the right wing board in the neutral zone to left wing Chris Grando as he was streaking into the Capitols zone. Skating on an abbreviated two-on-one break, Grando passed the puck to his left to Palecco who wristed a shot over Lebedeff for his fifth tally of the season.

Left wing Jared Spooner lit the lamp for his eighth goal of the season at 4:19 of the final stanza to give Green Bay a 3-2 advantage. Skating on the power play, Palecco held the puck that the right point and sent a feed over to defenseman Connor Mackey who was just to the right of the center point. Mackey then passed the puck over to Spooner who skated in from the left point and fired a shot past a screened Lebedeff for the go-ahead goal.

Left wing Alec Broetzman fought for the comeback with his fourth goal of the season at 17:30 of the final frame after Madison pulled Lebedeff for the extra attacker. The Gamblers netminder tried to clear the puck from his crease but the puck bounced straight to Broetzman in the right face-off circle. The forward skated to between the hash marks before beating Zhukov on his blocker side to bring the score to 4-3.

Lebedeff (2-8-0-1) suffered his eighth loss of the season stopping 23-of-27 shots. Zhukov (8-5-0-0) earned his eighth win of the season with 24 saves on 27 shots.

Madison went 0-for-2 on the power play. Green Bay was 2-for-4 with the man advantage.

Notables: Capitols are currently on a six-game losing streak...Captain Robby Fosdick played in his 114th career game for Madison, moving into second all-time on the Capitols games played...Center Noah Weber scored his fifth goal of the season which is tied for second on the Capitols...Center Eetu Selanne is on a two-game point streak with a goal and an assist in his last two games.

The Capitols rematch with the Gamblers at the Resch Center at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday, December 10. Tune into all of the action on HockeyTV.com. For more information, call the Capitols at (608) 257-CAPS or visit www.MADCAPSHOCKEY.com.

Check out the Madison Capitols Statistics

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United States Hockey League Stories from December 9, 2016


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