Saints Sweep Capitols; Burkholder Picks Up Defenseman of the Week

Your Dubuque Fighting Saints needed a bounce back weekend to keep themselves in the chase for home ice in the opening round of the Clark Cup playoffs.

Friday night's (2/24) matchup was the first against the Madison Capitols since the November 4th, Saints home opener, when they tied a franchise record scoring 10 goals in a 10-2 triumph. Things got started on the right foot again for Dubuque thanks to captain, Riley Stuart, who is closing in on the franchise record for games played. Stuart took a pass at center ice and lugged the puck into the offensive zone, pulling up at the top of the circle, and pumping a wrist shot past Madison keeper Rastislav Elias.

The night rolled from there, with both teams putting 32 shots on goal and failing on all of their powerplay attempts: Saints going 0 for 4 and the Capitols 0 for 2. Dubuque scored all their goals across the 1^st and 2^nd period and grabbed their 21st win of the season by a final of 5-2 over the Madison Capitols.

The Fighting Saints then traveled to Middleton on Saturday night (2/25) and grabbed their first sweep of a single opponent since early February in a dramatic overtime win. Away from home the Saints outshot Madison 37 to 26 on the evening, but didn’t register their first goal until the 2^nd period, which ended with the score 3 to 1. Saints pulled it together in the 3^rd with 2 unanswered goals to tie up the score and send it to overtime where Jake Sondreal had an opportunity for a partial breakaway. He slid a shot between the legs of Madison keeper Kucenski for his 8th of the year and his second overtime winner, with a final score of 4-3. The Saints were able to capitalize on 2 of 4 powerplays, with the Capitols failing on all 4 of their attempts.

Additionally, Dubuque Fighting Saints defenseman Max Burkholder has been named the USHL's Defenseman of the Week for week 22 of the 2022-23 season. This is the second time the veteran defenseman has taken home the award this season. He was named Defenseman of the Week in week 10 back in late November after becoming the first saint to record a hat trick since December 6th, 2019.

So far this season, Burkholder has set new career highs in every offensive category. Through 43 games, he has recorded 14 goals, 23 assists for a running total of 37 points along with 95 shots on goal, a pair of game winners, and three power play goals. He ranks second on the Saints in goals, assists, and points trailing only Ryan. St. Louis.

Watch for the Saints to make it 3 in a row tonight against the Eastern Conference leading Chicago Steel, who sit at 29-14-2-1 with 61 points. Puck drops at 7:05pm, pre-game starts at 6:45pm with Blake Theisen on Eagle 102.3.