Kevin Reidler collected his third shutout of the postseason in the Dubuque Fighting Saints' win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Saints will make their first appearance in the Clark Cup Finals since the 2015-16 season.
Kevin Reidler collected his third shutout of the postseason in the Dubuque Fighting Saints' win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Saints will make their first appearance in the Clark Cup Finals since the 2015-16 season.
The Dubuque Fighting Saints have punched their ticket to the Clark Cup Finals after defeating the Muskegon Lumberjacks 4-0 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday.
Goaltender Kevin Reidler collected his third shutout of the postseason in the Saints' win. The Ottawa Senators draft pick stopped all 21 shots sent his way.
Forward Josh Giuliani scored his first two goals of the postseason, while forward Gavin Cornforth and defenseman Lucas St. Louis also found the back of the net to round out the scoring total.
Despite outshooting the Lumberjacks 15-3 in the first period, the two teams remained scoreless after 20 minutes.
However, Cody Croal's cross-checking penalty sent Dubuque to the power play at the 7:28 mark of the second frame, and the Fighting Saints pounced on the opportunity. St. Louis scored his third goal and second power-play goal of the postseason to give Dubuque a 1-0 lead.
Just over two minutes later, Giuliani netted his first goal of the postseason and his first since February 23. After Muskegon turned the puck over in the neutral zone, Giuliani settled the puck and skated into the offensive zone before firing a wrister past Lumberjacks netminder Shikhabutdin Gadzhiev.
Dubuque took a 2-0 lead on the scoreboard and 25-14 shots on goal advantage into the third period, where Giuliani added his second of the night on the backdoor to make it a 3-0 lead. The goal was reviewed for potential goaltender interference, but the officials determined it was a good goal on the ice.
Less than two minutes later, Cornforth provided the proverbial dagger with his second goal of the postseason.
Dubuque will await the winner of Fargo and Sioux City. The Fighting Saints are aiming to capture their first Clark Cup title since 2013 and sixth in franchise history.
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