Dubuque, IA – The Dubuque Fighting Saints (23-9-2-0, 48 pts) won their fifth-straight game in a 10-6 win over the USA NTDP U17s (2-17-2-0, 6 pts) on Saturday night.
Early in the second period on Saturday, with Dubuque leading 4-1, the U17s scored twice in 1:15 to bring the game within a goal at 4:35 of the middle frame. The Saints answered immediately, scoring 58 seconds later as Lincoln Krizizke scored his third of the season. Seven seconds after that, Masun Fleece scored to make it 6-3 Saints. Krizizke scored his second 15 seconds later to finish a three-goal stretch in 22 seconds for the Fighting Saints that extended Dubuque's lead to 7-3.
Krizizke scored his first multi-goal game in the USHL, while Fleece added three assists to set a career-high with four points in the win.
Luke Brierley (2), Teddy Merrill (20), Kris Richards (4) and Caden Dabrowski (2) all scored in the second period, finishing a seven-goal period for Dubuque. Merrill reached the 20-goal mark for the first time in his USHL career. Dabrowski's goal came on the power-play, the Saints lone goal on three chances to extend the team's power-play goal-scoring streak to 10 games.
Dubuque scored first for the 11th-straight game on Saturday, wasting little time getting the scoring started. Michael Barron extended a career-high point streak to 10 with his 10th goal of the season. Barron has six goals and 20 points in that stretch and is just two points away from tying Connor Kurth for fourth all-time in Fighting Saints history at 122 career points.
The Saints' strong start continued in the first with Dante Josefsson-Westling's second shorthanded goal in as many games. The Swedish forward scored on a backhand move for the second-straight night on a shorthanded breakaway and has scored goals in four-straight games for Dubuque.
Teo Besnier's fourth goal of the season came later in the first to put Dubuque ahead 3-0 on a feed in front that bounced by goaltender Eli Winters.
The Saints moved two points clear of Muskegon with the two-win weekend, and trail Youngstown (51) and Green Bay (51) by three points at the top of the Eastern Conference standings.
