Youngstown, OH – The Dubuque Fighting Saints (33-16-4-0, 70 pts) visit the Youngstown Phantoms (38-13-3-2, 81 pts) to wrap up a series on Saturday night.
Here are five things to know ahead of the matchup:
1. Close Call
The Fighting Saints dropped Friday's weekend-opener 4-3 in overtime, earning a point despite trailing 2-0 in the opening period.
The Saints scored three unanswered goals in the contest, erasing the 2-0 deficit with goals by Colin Frank, Nils Sunde and Lincoln Krizizke before Evan Jardine scored the game-winner in overtime.
2. Popular Penalties
Each team had five power plays in Friday's matchup and both teams converted once on those opportunities. Both teams scored on their first chance of the game before being shutout on their final few opportunities.
The teams enter play on Saturday with the top-two power plays in the USHL. Dubuque leads the league at 28.2%, while Youngstown is in second with a 27.5% conversion rate.
3. Saints Saves
Vojtech Hambálek made 33 saves in Friday's overtime loss, his second-highest total of the season (36 on Dec. 13 at Lincoln). Over his last four games, Hambálek has a .934 save percentage.
Hambálek helped Dubuque to a 4-5 night on the penalty kill against the Phantoms' power play that leads the USHL in power-play goals scored.
4. Limited Launch
The Fighting Saints mustered just 18 shots on goal on Friday, getting held under 20 shots on goal for the first time this season. The last time the Fighting Saints had fewer than 20 shots was on March 15, 2025 in a 2-1 win over Waterloo.
Entering the weekend, the Fighting Saints averaged 30.5 shots per game. The Phantoms, however, are third in the USHL allowing just 25.3 shots against per game.
5. Phantom Files
The Saints held the Phantoms' top-two point scorers Cooper Simpson and Ryan Rucinski off the scoresheet on Friday despite the overtime loss.
Simpson has now gone four-straight games without a point, while Rucinski was shutout after seven points in the previous two matchups against Dubuque.
Saturday's game begins at 5:05 p.m. CDT at the Covelli Centre. The game can be found on Eagle 102.3 and FloHockey.
