Geneva, IL – The Dubuque Fighting Saints (20-9-2-0, 42 pts) visit the Chicago Steel (12-13-4-1, 29 pts) to finish a weekend home-and-home on Saturday night.
Here are five things to know ahead of the matchup:
1. Starting Strong
The Fighting Saints scored first for the eighth-straight game in Friday's 3-1 win over the Steel. Dubuque has a 5-2-1-0 record in that stretch and has a 15-5-1-0 record overall when scoring first.
The Saints extended their lead in Friday's win by adding goals in the second and third to lead 3-0 before a Chicago power-play goal ended the Saints' shutout-bid.
2. Barron Bingo
Michael Barron scored his ninth goal of the season on Friday, a power-play goal in the third period. Barron is tied for the team lead with 33 points entering play on Saturday.
The forward has five goals and 13 points during a career-high seven-game point streak. Barron has 113 points in his Dubuque career, trailing Connor Kurth by nine for fourth all-time in scoring by a Fighting Saint.
3. Special Streak
Barron's power-play goal helped Dubuque extend a season-long streak by scoring for a seventh-straight game. Overall, the Saints lead the USHL at 30.1% this season.
Against Chicago, the Fighting Saints have scored eight power-play goals on 15 chances. Dubuque has a 35.4% power play on the road this season, scoring 17 goals in 14 games away from Dubuque.
4. Saints Setup
Brandt Dubey assisted for the second-straight game on Friday, setting up Eetu Orpana's ice-breaker in the first period. Luke Brierley fed Dubey, who made a move at the blue line and pushed the puck to the net.
Orpana was there to open the scoring with a redirection into the top of the net for his sixth goal of the season. Orpana has three goals in his last three games for Dubuque..
5. Steel Shift
The Chicago Steel have limited two of its opposition to three goals in each of the last three games, but have dropped six-consecutive games.
Chicago's only goal on Friday came from a Wyatt Herres point-shot on the Steel power play. Herres scored his fourth of the season and was set up by Tobias Ohman, the team's leading point-scorer with 27.
Saturday's game begins at 6:05 p.m. CST at the Fox Valley Ice Arena. The game can be found on Eagle 102.3 and FloHockey.
