Plymouth, MI – The Dubuque Fighting Saints (29-14-2-0, 60 pts) finish a road series against the USA NTDP U17s (3-21-2-0, 8 pts) on Saturday night.
Here are five things to know ahead of the matchup.
1. Frank Fix
Colin Frank will skate in his 150th career USHL game on Saturday, becoming the 17th Fighting Saint to reach that mark in Tier-I team history.
On Friday, Frank scored twice and had three points in a 7-3 win over the U17s. Two of Frank's three points came on the power play, and his second goal was the team's 200th of the season.
2. Saints Specials
The Fighting Saints had a perfect night on special teams in Friday's win over the U17s. Dubuque scored on both power-play chances it had as Frank and Charlie Arend converted for the Saints.
On the penalty kill, Dubuque stopped all four chances the U17s had, including three over the final 25 minutes of regulation.
3. Dabrowski Demolition
Caden Dabrowski scored twice on Friday night, securing his second-straight two-goal outing. After his first career multi-goal game on Saturday in Cedar Rapids, Dabrowski scored once in the second and once in the third to help the Saints to their third-straight win.
Dabrowski, a 2008-born forward, has seven goals for the Fighting Saints and 21 points in 33 games in his rookie season. Over a three-game point streak, Dabrowski has four goals and six points.
4. Clutch Captain
Saints Captain Teddy Merrill scored the game-winning goal on Friday, starting a stretch of four Saints goals over 2:35 in the third period. Merrill's goal broke a 3-3 tie at 10:10 of the third period.
The Captain's sixth game-winner came after he assisted on Arend's power-play goal earlier in the game. Merrill has 24 goals to lead the team and his 46 points trail only Michael Barron (48) on the Saints.
5. Developmental Details
The U17s had a stretch scoring three out of four goals in Friday's game, tying the game with 5:46 gone in the third period. Nolan Fitzhenry's breakaway goal tied the game and tied Carter Meyer for the team lead with 11 goals in the USHL this season.
The Saints outshot USA 35-18 on Friday and the U17s enter Saturday's matchup having been outshot in 23 of their 26 games in the USHL this season.
Saturday's game begins at 6:00 p.m. CST at the USA Hockey Arena. The game is available on Eagle 102.3 and via USA Hockey on USA HockeyTV.
