Series Tied up Heading Back to Bloomington

Published on April 30, 2016 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Bloomington Thunder News Release


Bloomington Thunder Hayden Lavigne vs. the Dubuque Fighting Saints
Bloomington Thunder Hayden Lavigne vs. the Dubuque Fighting Saints
(Bloomington Thunder)

DUBUQUE, Iowa - With their backs against the wall for the second straight Game2, the Bloomington Thunder responded on the road to split the weekend.Bloomington came out with a three-goal surge before needing to hold on for a4-3 win in the final minutes of regulation. Saturday night the Thunder bestedtheir Eastern Conference opponent, the Dubuque Fighting Saints, to tie theseries at 1-1 heading back to Bloomington for games 3 and 4.

The Fighting Saints battledin the third period to pull within one goal at the end of regulation. With fourminutes left in the game, the Thunder needed to kill off one of seven powerplays for the Fighting Saints. As the play made it through the neutral zone atthe end of the kill, Sean Harrison(Union College) battled his way to the line to give Blake Gober (Penn StateUniversity) a shot on the net. The first goal of the playoffs for Gobercouldn't have come at a better time for the Thunder, as it snuck through thebody of Hunter Miska (University ofMinnesota-Duluth). The Thunder took a two-goal lead with less than twominutes left to play.

Dubuque made it interestingwith a goal with 19 seconds left to play. Bloomington's defense finished thegame off and held on for the nail-biting win.

Before we got to the third,the Thunder took it to the Fighting Saints right off the bat. Three goals inthe opening two periods gave them the lead to play with. Patrick Curry (Boston University) scored the second of his postseason on the power play. Tarek Baker(University of Wisconsin) dished the puck over to Curry for the shot underMiska's glove.

Later in the first, theThunder on the man advantage again had a chance. The glove of a Fighting Saintsdefender covered the puck in the crease causing a penalty shot for the Thunder.Jake Slaker (St. Lawrence University)extended the lead on the breakaway and now has 11 points (4g, 7a) in theplayoffs to lead the USHL in points.

Hayden Lavigne (University of Michigan) put 18 saves away over two periods to lead theThunder rebound performance over Dubuque. He also helped the team on thepenalty kill as the Thunder were 6-for-7 when down a man. Dubuque was able tokill off a crucial 5-on-3 in the game, but could not hold the Thunder off theboard. Less than six minutes into the middle period, Mitchell Mattson (University of North Dakota) ripped the puck pastMiska. Mitchell Chaffee screened the Saints netminders as the Thunder rolled totheir third straight goal.

Curry almost had another onMiska, but it rang off the cross bar. Bloomington responded on the FightingSaints and scored four on just 19 shots. Lavigne ended the game with 26 savesfor Bloomington in his fourth post-season win.

Short handed was how theFighting Saints third period began and they scored two goals less than sixminutes into the third. Ending Lavigne's shutout was Michael O'Leary (University of Notre Dame) with his third of theplayoffs, followed by Mitchell Smith's(Yale University) second a little over three minutes later.

A flurry of shots in thefinal period gave the Saints a chance to tie the game. Lavigne stood tall andthe defense was able to hang on against the top scoring offense in the regularseason.

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Bloomington Thunder Hayden Lavigne vs. the Dubuque Fighting Saints
Bloomington Thunder Hayden Lavigne vs. the Dubuque Fighting Saints
   



United States Hockey League Stories from April 30, 2016


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