FRIDAY

Plymouth, MI — Riding the leagues longest winning streak at five games, Dubuque strolled into USA Hockey Arena on Friday night beaming with confidence and swagger.

The winning streak was a result of multiple factors. Great goaltending from Marcus Brännman, timely scoring, resilience, and for the most part strong starts. The Fighting Saints didn't get off to a strong start on Friday night.

Against a young, but very talented U17 National Development Team, Dubuque spotted them two goals in the opening 6:11. James Hagens finished off a picturesque back door feed in transition after a Dubuque turnover to open the scoring. Kamil Bednarik followed that up with a deflected shot through traffic to open a 2-0 USA lead. Transition scoring was something the Fighting Saints were expecting out of the U17's.

"We have to limit turnovers," said Fighting Saints head coach Kirk MacDonald prior to Friday nights matchup. "They're going to try and score in transition and counter off of our mistakes. We can't be loose with pucks. If we play in their end, we can force them to break down and create strong scoring chances."

Turnovers and loose play burned the Saints in those opening ten minutes and twice more in the second period. The good news for Dubuque was they finally brought some punch of their own.

Twice, the Fighting Saints were able to cut the USA lead to a goal at 2-1 and then 3-2 in the second period off of goals from James Reeder and a breakaway from Max Montes. On Reeder's opening goal for Dubuque, he drove the net and capitalized on a rebound left out by USA goaltender Nick Kempf. Then, Nils Juntorp sprung Montes for a breakaway with a 100 foot pass and the latter made Kempf bite on a fake and slipped the puck past his left pad.

Despite a better period for Dubuque, they still found themselves down a pair, 4-2, at the end of the second period. On the season, Dubuque hadn't faired well when trailing entering the third period. In fact, they hadn't even managed to recover once to collect a point going 0-11-0-0 in such situations.

Enter timely scoring and resilience. Much like the previous five games, Dubuque continued to press in the third period and finished on the chances they generated. Jaden Jubenvill made it a one-goal game for the third time of the night with his third of the season on a net mouth scramble. Then, Michael Burchill intercepted a D-to-D pass in the slot and blasted a snap shot past Kempf to tie the game at 4-4 with under five minutes to go and forced overtime for the second time in two contests between Dubuque and the U17's.

Unfortunately for Dubuque, the result was the same as the last matchup in late October. James Hagens was the hero for USA again, hammering a one-timer past Brännman's glove to win the game 1:13 into overtime. The Saints, who were caught with tired legs defending the three-on-three situation, couldn't rotate fast enough to cover Hagens in the right wing circle.

Now, Dubuque turns their attention to the U18's on Saturday night. That matchup has not been kind to the Fighting Saints in recent memory. The Fighting Saints haven't beaten the U18's since March 5th of 2021, losing their last three matchups by a combined score of 23-7.

SATURDAY

Plymouth, MI — Wash, rinse and repeat from Friday night. A night after finding a way to earn a point, albeit in a bit uglier fashion, the Dubuque Fighting Saints found a way again to force overtime against team USA's NTDP U18 team before ultimately falling 4-3 in overtime.

Dubuque however was a bit more buttoned up on Saturday night. One may have wondered if the matchup against the U18's could turn ugly again like it did the last time the two teams met in December, and 8-2 win for the U18's. That may have been the case had the Fighting Saints not played a tighter defensive game. But Saturday night was arguably one of the Saints' most impressive games all season, regardless of the final result. At minimum, it was a great hockey game for a fan to enjoy.

The first period paved way to a scoreless start to the second period. Dubuque did a strong job in limiting USA in transition throughout most of the night, but especially in the first period allowing just seven shots to their own three. But the Saints did register strong chances in the first period despite the low shot total, including a Burchill shot that rang off the post.

Eventually, the levee would break in front of Brännman who was playing in his seventh straight game. After Max Burkholder stepped up for a hit at center ice, USA defenseman Kai Janviriya jumped up into the rush rather than breaking for the bench on a transition chance. USA's Gabe Perrault carried the puck in down the wall, put on the breaks, and fed Janviriya who beat Brännman from in tight. Five minutes later, Perrault set up another goal for the American's. Perrault, who is arguably playing better hockey than anyone in his age group not named Connor Bedard, hit Will Smith with a seeing eye pass to put USA ahead 2-0 11:15 into the period.

The resilience of the Fighting Saints showed from there. Brayden Morrison cut it to a one goal game off a quick shot following an offensive zone faceoff. Then, just 1:25 late, Montes scored his second of the weekend off the rush to tie the game at 2-2 heading into the third period.

Perrault again would notch an assist, his third of the game, after some puck luck went USA's way to retake the lead with 6:35 to play in regulation. Perrault left a puck along the boards for Ryan Fine who sliced towards the net and got a shot off through tons of traffic. The puck richocheted off multiple sticks and bodies before being poked in by Smith for his second goal of the game and a 3-2 NTDP lead.

With time winding down, Kirk MacDonald took a timeout and pulled Brännman with just over two minutes left in regulation and it paid off. Theo Wallberg uncorked a one-timer from the blue line that bounced to Ryan St. Louis. The former NTDP forward smoothly redirected to puck to Nils Juntorp who scored to force overtime for the second straight night.

After a Will Staring shot missed the net in overtime, Smith grabbed a lively carom off the end glass and went end to end and beat Brännman with a wrist shot to finish off a hat trick and a 4-3 USA overtime win.

Dubuque picked up a point for the seventh consecutive game and will now turn their attention to a three game weekend a bit closer to home. On Thursday night, the Saints take on Waterloo for the fourth time this season. They'll look to remain perfect against the Black Hawks. Then Friday night kicks off a home-and-home series with Green Bay with the Gamblers in town on Friday night.