USHL Dubuque Fighting Saints

Roughriders Top Saints, 5-4, in Nine-Round Shootout

Published on February 15, 2014 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Dubuque Fighting Saints News Release


CEDAR RAPIDS, IA - It took a nine-rounds, but the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders finally overcame the Dubuque Fighting Saints Saturday night. Fredrik Tiffels goal in the ninth-round of a thrilling shootout pushed the RoughRiders to a 5-4 victory over Dubuque, and helped Cedar Rapids jump Dubuque in the Eastern Conference Standings. Cedar Rapids now sits in second in the Eastern Conference with 56 points while Dubuque, with two games in hand, sits in third place with 55 points.

A frantic first period saw the teams combine to score five goals in six minutes. Dubuque notched the game's first two goals. Only 8:42 into the game, Cedar Rapids failed to clear the puck from the front of their own goal. Max McHugh's forecheck for Dubuque helped knock the puck up into the air. McHugh caught the puck with his glove, dropped it to his stick, darted to the left, and fired a wrist shot past the glove of Cedar Rapids goaltender Chris Birdsall to make it 1-0 Dubuque.

The Fighting Saints would add to its lead just seconds later. An Alexx Privitera shot was tipped wide of the goal by Brett Boeing. Dylan Gambrell picked up the puck off the active end boards and scored, beating Birdsall to the right post to make it 2-0 at 9:09.

Just a minute later, Dylan McLaughlin scored on the powerplay for Cedar Rapids on a give-and-go. Mitch Maloney chipped the puck to McLaughlin who one-timed a slapshot over Dubuque goaltender Kevin Reich's shoulder to make it 2-1 at 10:20 of the first period.

The hectic pace continued, as Dubuque regained a two-goal lead at 12:07. Brett Boeing worked up ice on a 2-on-1 with Dylan Gambrell. Boeing elected to fire a shot on net from the right wing. Birdsall made the save and was confident the puck was covered. However, the Cedar Rapids goaltender never controlled the puck and it sat loose in the crease. Boeing picked up his own rebound and chipped it past Birdsall to make it 3-1 Dubuque.

The RoughRiders responded at 14:11 of the first period to make it 3-2. A mad scramble in front of the Dubuque net saw the puck pinball back to the left point. Mark Auk took a step towards the Fighting Saints net and roofed a wrist shot over Reich's glove to cut the deficit.

In the second period, the RoughRiders outshot Dubuque 9-3 and scored the lone goal of the period. With 8:30 left in the second period, Clark Kuster found himself lost in coverage and scored to tie the game. Corey Petrash dug the puck loose from the boards and dished it to Kuster in the slot. He fired a shot over Reich's blocker to make it 3-3.

The two teams traded goals in the third period. Andrew Poturalski scored only :17 into the third period to give the RoughRiders their first lead of the game. The Fighting Saints responded to tie the game on McHugh's second goal of the game. Shane Kavanagh collected the puck behind the net. He wrapped the puck towards the front of the goal to McHugh on the left wing. With Birdsall on the far side of the net, McHugh fired a shot into the vacated right side of the goal to tie the game, 4-4, at 4:06 of the third period.

Cedar Rapids fired 15 shots in the third period, and Reich was strong in goal, stopping a last second deflection to send the game to overtime, where neither team scored in the extra session.

A thrilling nine-round shootout followed. McHugh was denied by BIrdsall to start the shootout, and McLaughlin beat Reich five-hole to give Cedar Rapids the shootout advantage. In the third round, Dubuque's Boeing had to score to keep the shootout alive. He snapped a shot past Birdsall's blocker to tie the shootout. Reich then denied Poturalski with his left pad to send the shootout to a fourth round.

In round five, Robby Darrar snapped a shot past Birdsall to give Dubuque a chance to win the shootout. However, Charlie Curti roofed a backhander over Reich's glove to send the shootout to round six.

In round seven, Seamus Malone again put Dubuque out front, dancing around Birdsall and tucking a shot past his right pad to put Dubuque up in the shootout 3-2. However, again the RoughRiders responded with a goal from Alec Marsh who rang a shot off the post and in.

After both goalies made a save in round eight, John Baiocco shot for Dubuque and was turned aside by Birdsall. Tiffels shot next for Cedar Rapids. The native of Germany beat his fellow countrymen Reich to win the shootout. Tiffels shot was stopped by Reich, but the goaltender's momentum knocked him backward and the puck fell into the net to give the RoughRiders the extra point in the standings.

Reich stopped 44 shots in the game and denied five shootout attempts in the losing effort. Cedar Rapids outshot Dubuque 46-31.

The Fighting Saints play in Lincoln Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. Dubuque returns home for a pair of games next weekend. The Fighting Saints host Omaha on Friday at 7:35 p.m. for Best in Show presented by That's My Dog! The game is also a Telegraph Herald Family 4 Pack Night. Saturday, the Fighting Saints and RoughRiders meet again for Blackout Game presented by Truck Country. That evening features a post-game jersey auction with all proceeds benefiting the Dubuque Youth Hockey Association. Puck drop is slated for 7:05 p.m. Tickets are available on DubuqueFightingSaints.com or by calling 563.583.6880.

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United States Hockey League Stories from February 15, 2014


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