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USHL Madison Capitols

Gerard Scores & Edquists Denies 39, But Caps Streak Ends

October 24, 2015 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Madison Capitols News Release


Madison, WI - The Madison Capitols (5-3-0) will look to win its third straight home game and extend a team-best five game win streak overall as they welcome the Bloomington Thunder (5-5-0) for the first time in 2015-16 on Saturday at the Alliant Energy Center.

After spending the first month of the season getting used to playing with a 1-0 lead, Madison coughed up the game's first goal for a second straight evening. After Ryan Edquist successfully fended off Bloomington's early push with seven early saves, Patrick Curry finally dented the Capitol goalie, redirecting a point shot through Edquist at 11:17.

The Capitols, however, would have a rapid response for a second straight evening as well. After Guillaume Leclerc picked off a Bloomington breakout pass at the offensive blue line, he found Haralds Egle in the right corner. Egle drew a defender to the ice then elevated a perfect feed to Charlie Gerard on the left wing side. The Minnesota State-Mankato commit made no mistake from there, shooting it past Thunder goalie Hayden Lavigne to tie the score at 11:41, just 24 seconds after Curry's opening strike.

After the Gerard goal, the Capitols evened out a period that had largely been played in the Madison zone. Bloomington did outshoot Madison in the first period by a 13-7 margin, but the Thunder blocked an additional ten Capitol shot attempts in the process.

The two clubs could not break the stalemate in a scoreless second, but it was not for a lack of special teams opportunities. Both teams could not find the twine on a pair of power play chances, as Edquist and Lavigne continued to have the replies. Edquist robbed Mitchell Mattson on a well-designed passing play, sliding to his right in the splits to keep the puck out.

Meanwhile, Lavigne was equally impressive, as Egle had a glorious chance on a one timer from the left side, but the Canadian netminder was able to get his body in the path of the Latvian's offering. Through two periods, Lavigne had 15 stops, while Edquist had already registered 24 stops on 25 Bloomington shot opportunities.

Edquist tried his best to get the Capitols into an overtime situation, but Curry was finally able to solve the Madison goaltender a second time on a one-time slapper at 11:01 of the final period. Edquist continued to churn out incredible saves, including a breakaway stonewalling of Alec Mehr in the game's final minutes, but it was not enough to save the Capitols' win streak.

The Capitols could not muster a comeback this time around after erasing a 2-1 third period deficit in Plymouth, Mich. last Saturday. Lavigne finished the night with 24 saves for his third win over the Capitols in as many starts. The Capitols were outshot by a final tally of 41-25.

Madison concludes its three-game, three-night weekend on Sunday for a 4 p.m. matinee against the Chicago Steel, the squad Madison topped 2-1 on Friday night. It will be Pucks N' Paws night inside the Coliseum, where fans can bring their dogs and receive specialty dog goody bags presented by Animart. Tickets can be purchased by calling (608) 257-CAPS (2277) or by visiting www.MadCapsHockey.com.

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