Des Moines, IA – The Dubuque Fighting Saints (32-15-3-0, 67 pts) visit the Des Moines Buccaneers (21-22-3-4, 49 pts) to begin the weekend on Friday night.
Here are five things to know ahead of the matchup:
1. March Minute
The Fighting Saints begin the week with 12 games remaining in the regular season and a magic number of nine points to reach the playoffs for the 15th-straight season.
Dubuque opens the weekend in third place in the Eastern Conference, trailing Green Bay by four points for the second-seed in the conference.
2. Hot Hands
Eetu Orpana, Melvin Ekman and Caden Dabrowski have combined for 15 goals and 34 points in eight games since joining forces as a line on Feb. 6.
Dabrowski has scored nine goals in his last seven games, bringing a season-long eight-game point streak into the weekend. Orpana has points in seven-straight and has five multi-point games in that span, while Ekman has added nine points in eight games on the line.
3. Power Punch
Orpana scored the Saints' ninth shorthanded goal of the season last weekend, tying a team record set in the 2017-18 season.
The goal was Orpana's first shorthanded tally of the season, with Dante Josefsson-Westling leading the way with three. Melvin Ekman has a pair, while Teddy Merrill, Charlie Arend and Kris Richards have all scored as well.
4. Cowbell Cup
With a win on Friday in Des Moines and a Waterloo victory over Cedar Rapids on Saturday, the Fighting Saints can clinch a seventh-straight Cowbell Cup title this weekend.
Dubuque leads the competition with 15 points and a 7-1-1 record through nine games. Including Friday, the Saints have three games remaining with a maximum of 21 points. Cedar Rapids has the second-highest maximum possible points with 18, while the Bucs can reach 17.
5. Bucs Blitz
The Bucs have won six of their last 10 games and have been strong defensively of late. Prior to the last meeting between the teams in mid-January, Des Moines averaged 3.5 goals against per game. Entering this weekend, the Bucs' season average is 3.1 after allowing just 2.1 per game in the last 15 contests.
Des Moines will be without second-leading scorer Blake Zielinksi on Friday due to suspension as the Saints aim for the season sweep.
Friday's game begins at 7:05 p.m. at the MidAmerican Energy Company RecPlex. The game can be found on Eagle 102.3 and FloHockey.
