Sports stats



USHL Madison Capitols

Metcalf's 41-Save Standout Performance Not Enough

November 25, 2015 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Madison Capitols News Release


Madison, WI - The Madison Capitols (7-10-0-0) got a spectacular performance from their NHL Draft pick in net, but the Waterloo Black Hawks (9-6-0-2) came up with just enough offense in a 3-1 victory on Wednesday at the Alliant Energy Center.

The first period put goaltenders Garrett Metcalf and Drew Hotte in a contest of "anything you can do, I can do better." Metcalf opened the night with seven of the game's first ten saves, as the Black Hawks peppered the Madison net in the early going.

Not to be outdone, Hotte came up with stellar stops of his own, first turning aside Konur Peterson on a backhander in front following a funny carom off the side glass. The Capitols, who entered Wednesday scoring a power play goal in two straight games, had an opportunity on their lone power play of the first. Haralds Egle threw a quick pass from the left corner across to Ryan Lohin in the right circle, but Hotte rotated quickly to his left to deny the Madison captain.

The goaltenders then exchanged consecutive breakaway denials, as ex-Black Hawk Tyson McLellan had his backhand attempt poked away by Hotte. At the other end of the rink, Metcalf slid from right to left to kick a puck out from Liam Pecararo, who had a hat trick in Waterloo's previous game on Saturday in Omaha.

The goaltenders finally got cracked in the second period after a perfect first frame. The initial goal came for the road side, as moments after Waterloo's first power play had ended, Shane Bowers redirected a Ben Newhouse shot past Metcalf at 1:58 to give the Black Hawks a 1-0 edge.

Ex-Capitol Tony Stillwell picked up an assist against his old team on the Waterloo opening goal. After nearly erasing a four-goal deficit on Saturday, Madison chose not to let this deficit get bigger, erasing it in less than four minutes.

Alex Payusov picked up a puck at the right side of the net off a Robby Fosdick point shot, raced around the net, and beat Hotte to the other pipe for a wraparound goal at 5:37 to tie the game, 1-1. It was Payusov's second goal in as many games and seventh of the year, tying him with three teammates for team leadership.

After tying the score, Madison had its sights set on leap-frogging to the lead, but Hotte would not allow such an event to occur. The best chance for Madison to un-tie the score in a second period that featured three Capitol power plays was a hard centering pass from Payusov to Alec Broetzman moving from right-to-left. Hotte, sliding to his left, was able to sprawl into a desperation dive to turn aside Broetzman and get Waterloo into intermission tied.

The two goaltenders had a game's worth of saves through 40 minutes, as Metcalf stopped 26 Waterloo shots, while Hotte had 23 saves through two periods.

After the two teams played all square in almost all facets through two periods, Waterloo exploded out of the second intermission locker room, taking it to the Capitols in the third, outshooting Madison by a 17-7 margin in the final period. Metcalf's 41 saves were a season-best in the effort.

However, Metcalf needed one more save but did could not get defensive help. Once again, moments after a Waterloo power play ended, the Capitols could not clear. Metcalf stopped an initial Michael Davies point shot, but Pecararo found Yuri Terao on a cross-crease pass, and the Hawks' leading scorer drilled it home for the game's deciding goal at 8:50 of the final period.

The Capitols finished the night 0-for-6 on the man advantage, including 0-for-2 in the final period with the man-up opportunities. Niko Hildenbrand added a long, rolling empty-net goal to finish the scoring in the game's final 15 seconds.

Madison has now dropped eight of its last ten games, all in regulation time, with five of those losses being decided by a single goal.

The Capitols enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday before competing twice more in 48 hours on Friday in Cedar Rapids and on Saturday at home against Green Bay. Puck drop for each game is set for 7:05 p.m.

Tickets to the third installment of the Wisconsin Cheese Cup series, presented by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, are available by calling (608) 257-CAPS (2277) or visiting www.MadCapsHockey.com. Fans will receive specialty mustaches on Saturday to help promote men's health awareness to conclude "Movember."

Check out the Madison Capitols Statistics



United States Hockey League Stories from November 25, 2015


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.

Other Recent Madison Capitols Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central