Dubuque, IA – The No. 2 Dubuque Fighting Saints host the No. 5 Muskegon Lumberjacks in a decisive Game 5 of an Eastern Conference Semifinal series on Tuesday night.
Here are five things to know ahead of the matchup:
1. Fighting Five
The Fighting Saints host the Lumberjacks for the fourth all-time Game 5 in Dubuque's Tier-I franchise history. The Saints last Game 5 was played in the 2016 Clark Cup Playoffs, a 3-0 win over Bloomington in the Eastern Conference Final.
In the eighth all-time playoff series between Dubuque and Muskegon, the teams will play the second Game 5 in the all-time series. In 2015, the Lumberjacks took Game 5 in the Eastern Conference Final and handed the Saints the only Game 5 loss in their history.
2. Barron Blitz
After leading the USHL with 50 assists in the regular season, Michael Barron leads all goal scorers in the series against Muskegon with five tallies for Dubuque.
Barron has a pair of multi-goal efforts in the series, including scoring both Dubuque goals in Game 4. All five of Barron's goals have come in the last three games of the series.
3. Saints Shots
After firing less than 20 shots in each of the first two games of the series, the Saints launched 28 shots in Game 3 and 33 shots in Game 4 in Muskegon.
The Saints averaged nearly 31 shots per game in the regular season before totaling 36 over the first two games of the series.
4. Home Helps
The Fighting Saints earned 21 of their 40 regular-season wins on home ice in Dubuque and host Game 5 on Tuesday against Muskegon. Overall, Dubuque tied for the league lead with 21 home wins in 30 contests.
Over their 16-year Tier-I history, the Fighting Saints have a 32-18 playoff record on home ice in Dubuque. The Saints and Lumberjacks split the first two games of the series in Dubuque.
5. Leading Lumberjacks
Drew Stewart logged three points in Game 4 and Carl Axelsson made 31 saves for Muskegon to force Game 5 in Dubuque. Stewart leads the Jacks with five points in the series, scoring all five over the two Muskegon wins.
Viktor Norringer has four points over the last three games in the series, including a power-play goal in Game 4.
Puck drop for Tuesday's Game 5 is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CDT at ImOn Arena and tickets can be purchased here. The game is also available on Eagle 102.3 and FloHockey.
