Saints Drop Weekend Opener to Musketeers

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USHL Dubuque Fighting Saints

Saints Drop Weekend Opener to Musketeers

April 4, 2025 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Dubuque Fighting Saints News Release


SIOUX CITY, IA - The Dubuque Fighting Saints (38-18-1-2, 79 pts) fell 4-2 to the Sioux City Musketeers (30-21-3-4, 67 pts) on the road on Friday night.

Despite outshooting the Musketeers 12-5 in the third period on Friday, the Saints could not find a go-ahead goal in the final period in a 2-2 game. With 8:54 to play, a Landon Nycz point-shot beat Jan Špunar through a screen from Landen Gunderson and gave Sioux City a 3-2 lead.

After falling behind 2-0 in the first period on Friday night, the Fighting Saints clawed back to tie the game headed into the third period. Following a penalty late in the first period, Heikki Ruohonen exited the box early in the second and crashed the net on a Michael Barron shot. Ruohonen scored the rebound for his 14th of the season under two minutes into the second period. Josh Giuliani also recorded an assist on the goal.

Late in the middle period, Luke Malboeuf stopped a Sioux City attempt in the Saints end and fed James Mackey in his own zone. Mackey launched a puck to the neutral zone, where Lucas Van Vliet gloved the puck down and carried it into the offensive end. Van Vliet looked to Cooper Dennis on the left wing, but fired the shot from the right and beat Samuel Urban to tie the game with 5:03 left in the second.

Following Nycz's go-ahead goal, the Saints had their third power play of the game. Despite a few good chances, Dubuque could not score on any of its power-play opportunities against the league's top penalty kill.

Špunar finished the night with 22 saves on 25 shots, while Urban made 24 saves on 26 shots. The Musketeers took the first-period lead with a goal on a major power-play chance after Kristian Kostadisnki was ejected from the game just 1:12 into the opening frame. Sioux City scored once on the opportunity and was silenced on its other two chances the rest of the game.

The Saints now sit in third place in the Eastern Conference standings, one point behind both Madison and Muskegon. Dubuque is tied in points with fourth-place Youngstown as the top four teams are separated by a single point.

Dubuque returns to action on Saturday in Omaha to finish the final road trip of the season against the Lancers.

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United States Hockey League Stories from April 4, 2025


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