Dubuque, IA – The Dubuque Fighting Saints (39-18-4-0, 82 pts) skated to a 5-1 win over the Muskegon Lumberjacks (36-23-1-1, 74 pts) on Friday night, clinching a first-round bye and the second seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Michael Barron made Saints history in the first period of Friday's win, setting up Caden Dabrowski's 14th goal of the season. The assist was Barron's 145th career point, moving him into second place all-time on the Saints' Tier-I scoring list. He surpassed Shane Sooth with the assist on the game-winning goal in Friday's win.
Dabrowski's tally gave Dubuque a 2-0 lead after Masun Fleece scored his 25th goal on the power play just 1:40 before. Fleece extended a career-long point streak to 13 games with his second goal in as many games since returning after an eight-game absence.
Following Dabrowski's goal, the Jacks struck back with a 4-on-4 goal at 11:18 of the first period. Early in the second, the Saints added to their lead.
Colin Frank became the sixth all-time point scorer in Saints history with a power-play goal just 46 seconds into the second period. His 109th career point was his 32nd goal of the season to lead the team and extend the lead to two.
Lincoln Krizizke added to the lead at 8:59 with his sixth goal of the season on a wrist shot in transition to extend the lead to 4-1.
Vojtech Hambálek made 27 saves on 28 shots in his 28th win of the season, the third-most in the USHL. Hambálek helped Dubuque to a perfect night on four penalty-kill chances.
Late in the third, Barron added an empty netter for Dubuque to take the 5-1 win. Eetu Orpana assisted three times in the win, while Barron and Dabrowski each had a pair of points.
The Saints clinched a first-round bye as a top-two seed in the East for the third-consecutive season and have the opportunity in Saturday's regular-season finale to reach 40 wins for the third-straight season.
