Saints Scale Insurmountable Summit, Fall to Caps
Published on February 16, 2018 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Dubuque Fighting Saints News Release
DUBUQUE, Iowa - All it took was a goaltending change and a fight to change the fortunes of the Dubuque Fighting Saints on Friday night. Down 3-1 after the first period, and then 4-1 after two, the Saints rallied after fisticuffs from Matt Stoia and notched three goals in the third period, but eventually fell in the fifth round of the shootout, dropping the game to the Madison Capitols 5-4 at the Mystique Community Ice Center.
Stoia dropped the gloves with Madison co-captain Mick Messner just six seconds into the third period, and began the monumental comeback path. It took six minutes into the period for Quinn Preston to get the ball rolling on the power play on a screen shot that found a way through Dryden McKay.
Then life was truly restored when Viktor Bovbel connected on a centering pass from Taylor Schneider at the 10:30 mark. Less than three minutes later, it was Matias Maccelli with his second of the game that capped off the momentous push by the Saints, on a crazy bounce off the back wall that Maccelli proved to be the opportunistic second mouse to the cheese, and thusly tied the game at 4.
Immediately after the Fighting Saints tied the game, Madison took a penalty, but the Saints' power play could not break through the Caps' stingy penalty kill.
A furious overtime saw chances go both ways, with both goaltenders gambling. McKay came out to play a loose puck away from Alex Steeves on a partial breakaway and got away with it. James Durham, in relief of Cole Weaver, slammed the door shut by not gambling on a free puck, and denied Messner on a breakaway, and got the second chance opportunity as well, sending the game to a decisive shootout.
Steeves and Ludwig Stenlund traded goals in the first three rounds, and it was in the fifth round where Michael Mancinelli scored the game-winning goal in the shootout to send the visitors home happy.
The first period did not go as planned for the Saints, as they outshot their opposition 19-10 in the opening frame, but it was the Capitols who came out of the first 20 minutes up by two. Maccelli and Mancinelli traded tallies to open the scoring, but it was quick strikes from Cade Borchardt and Stenlund that extended the lead.
The goal from Stenlund came in the final seven seconds of the period, and eventually chased Weaver in favor of Durham, who started his night in the second period and stopped 23 of 24 shots in relief.
Friday's result marked the 22nd time in 40 games this season that the Dubuque Fighting Saints found themselves in a one-goal game (8-6-8). In all, the Fighting Saints outshot the Capitols 54-35, marking the third time this season that the Saints got more than 50 shots on goal, and have lost all three.
The weekend continues on the road, as Dubuque travels to Cedar Rapids for a 7:05 p.m. tussle at The Stable, and then finishes up the weekend for a 2:05 p.m. matinée with the Lincoln Stars on Sunday. Catch all of the action on Dubuque's Super Hits 106.1 FM, or on the USHL's streaming video provider, HockeyTV.
United States Hockey League Stories from February 16, 2018
- Saints Scale Insurmountable Summit, Fall to Caps - Dubuque Fighting Saints
- McKay backstops the Caps to victory; Mancinelli scores winner in shootout - Madison Capitols
- Chicago Falls 3-2 to Des Moines - Chicago Steel
- Sioux City Falls to the Stampede by a Final of 5-3 - Sioux City Musketeers
- Breakthrough Comes Too Late - Waterloo Black Hawks
- Stampede Stay Hot, Top Sioux City 5-3 - Sioux Falls Stampede
- Stars Fall Late to Lancers, 4-3 - Lincoln Stars
- Late Goal Sends Lancers Past Stars, 4-3 - Omaha Lancers
- Prosvetov Stops 34 in Phantoms 2-1 Win - Youngstown Phantoms
- It's off to the Races at Fox Valley Ice Arena in Geneva as 18 Wiener Dogs Go for the Gold - Chicago Steel
- Preview: Storm Travel to Fargo for Weekend Series - Tri-City Storm
- Jacks Aim to Scrape Together Wins on Iowa Roadtrip - Muskegon Lumberjacks
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