RoughRiders blanked in Dubuque

DUBUQUE - The slogan at the Mystique Ice Center Friday night was 'Our House, Our Cup.”

The Clark Cup, which goes to the champion of the United States Hockey each season, was prominently displayed on the concourse of the building. Hey, if you've got it, you might as well flaunt it.

The Dubuque Fighting Saints are trying to back up that swagger, taking a lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders via a 1-0 Game 3 win before 2,848 fans.

Game 4 of the best-of-five series is Saturday night here at 7:05.

'We played a good game, and so did they,” said RoughRiders forward Andrew Poturalski. 'We know we need to be better in some areas, and we need to pick it up. We're not thinking about losing. We're just taking it one game at a time, and we've got to win tomorrow night. That's what we've got to do.”

All three games in the series have been decided by a goal, if that tells you how close these teams are. This one was a lot like Game 1 last weekend in Cedar Rapids, a 2-1 Dubuque win.

Both goaltenders, Danny Tirone of the Riders and Kevin Reich of Dubuque, were very good, combining for 59 saves. Robby Darrar was the only guy to score, his goal coming with 8:49 left in the second period.

Reich, by the way, was pulled after allowing four first-period goals in Game 2. This was quite a rebound.

'The team played unbelievable,” he said. 'Unbelievable feeling, it's great. Tonight was crazy.”

Speaking of rebounds, Darrar's goal wasn't ultra pretty, but ultra pretty usually doesn't win in the postseason. Brett Boeing took a shot from the right faceoff circle that Tirone made a right kick save on.

The puck ricocheted to a crashing Darrar, who was being tied up by his RoughRiders check but was able to get just enough of the puck to slide it barely into the open net.

'Our ‘D' did a great job of tying that guy's stick down,” Tirone said. 'He just got a little piece of it, and it ended up making its way into the net before I could get there.”

'I thought we played well,” said RoughRiders Coach Mark Carlson. 'But I think we can do some things better. We've got to plan on doing that tomorrow night.”

Dubuque outplayed Cedar Rapids in the first period, but Tirone was very sharp. He stopped all 16 Fighting Saints shots he faced, including stoning Shane Eiserman on a breakaway from the blue line.

The RoughRiders ratcheted up their play in the second period, outshooting Dubuque by a 13-7 margin. They threw more pucks on net, especially from the perimeter, looking for tips or rebounds.

'I thought we played a lot better game than we did in Game 1,” Poturalski said. 'I thought both teams played good games tonight ... They got one bounce. I think we need to get to the greasy areas. Get shots through and get guys to the paint, that's what it comes down to in playoff hockey. It's not about skill, it's who wants it more and who works harder.”

Carlson said he would like to see his team fire away more tonight.

'I think we need to take a few more shots,” he said. 'I thought we tried to be a little too cute at times, maybe thinking a little bit too much instead of shooting it.”

The RoughRiders played with only 11 forwards again, with Kevin Shand a healthy scratch. Erik Foley played his second game with the team, a call-up from the affiliate roster.

Mitch Maloney (concussion), Judd Peterson (ankle) and Carlos Fornaris (team suspension) were unavailable.

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