MIDDLETON, WI - The Dubuque Fighting Saints (37-15-1-2, 77 pts) dropped Thursday night's matchup 3-1 to the Madison Capitols (34-15-3-1, 72 pts).

An odd-man rush for Madison just before the halfway point in regulation produced the game-winning goal in Thursday's loss for Dubuque. Madison's Egor Barabonov started a 2-on-1 rush and shot a puck that Jan Špunar saved, but Aiden Long redirected the rebound into the net. The goal gave Madison a 2-1 lead at 8:30 of the second, a lead the Capitols would not surrender.

For the first time since Feb. 8, the Fighting Saints allowed the first goal of the game with Barabonov scoring in the first. Less than four minutes later, however, Gavin Cornforth responded for the Saints. Cornforth ripped his 22nd from the high-slot unassisted after a forecheck worked the puck free for Dubuque.

With Špunar pulled in the final two minutes, Dubuque set up a Heikki Ruohonen chance in front of the net. Caleb Heil stopped it and Finn Brink scored the length of the ice into the empty net to ice the game for Madison.

Dubuque could not score on four power-play chances in the loss on Thursday and killed both Madison opportunities in the game. Špunar made 23 saves on 25 shots, while Heil stopped 29 of 30 in the matchup.

The win leaves Dubuque five points ahead of the Caps with seven games remaining for the Saints and nine for Madison. The teams meet twice more in Dubuque this season, with one of those matchups on Saturday.

On Friday, the Saints host the Waterloo Black Hawks and the Capitols will host Cedar Rapids.