Black Hawks Go 1-1-1 Over The Weekend – Still In 1st Place

Waterloo lost a close one on Friday night at Muskegon in O.T. (but gained a valuable point in the standings), then dropped another close loss Saturday night in Chicago, followed by a thrilling victory Sunday afternoon over Madison scoring the game-winning goal with only 5 seconds left in the game! The Black Hawks navigated through a brutal three game road trip and are still in 1st place (with 17 points) in the Western Conference and own a one point lead over the Lincoln Stars.

Wrong Side of a Wild Finish
Danil Gushchin scored all four Muskegon Lumberjacks goals against the Black Hawks Friday night in a 4-3 overtime affair at L.C. Walker Arena. Waterloo led 3-1 going into the late minutes, but Gushchin scored twice with a sixth attacker on the ice. He punched in the first of them at 18:36 when the puck was sent his way out of the right corner across the face of goal. Gushchin tied it with 4.4 to go on a rebound chance. Flying high after his late heroics, Gushchin had a chance to win it on a breakaway during the first minute of overtime. Gabriel Carriere kicked away the shot. However, Gushchin didn’t miss when he got his next chance at 2:41, cutting from the right circle across the top of the crease to push in the winner. Patrick Guzzo, Ryder Rolston and Connor Caponi found the net for Hawks.

Steel Edge Hawks 5-3
The Chicago Steel stayed just out of reach throughout Saturday’s game at Fox Valley Ice Arena, topping Waterloo 5-3. Chicago became the first team this season to score a power play goal against the Hawks. With 33.1 seconds remaining before the first intermission, Tyler Carpenter tipped John Spetz’s shot from the right point. The puck found the net inside the post to the right of Logan Stein, giving the Steel the lead – by one count or another – for the rest of the night.

Hawks Finish with a Flourish
In the last moments of their third road game in three days, the Black Hawks pulled out a 2-1 win against the Madison Capitols on Sunday at Capitol Ice Arena. With overtime looking likely, Patrick Guzzo knocked down a puck at the red line. He stepped into the Madison zone and snapped a wrist shot to the top corner for his third goal of the weekend. Just five seconds remained when the puck went in. Sunday’s win gave Waterloo a 1-1-1 record and three points for the weekend.

On The Road Again
Waterloo remains on the road next weekend, finishing up 6 "away" games in a row, meeting both of their Dupaco Cowbell Cup rivals. The Hawks visit the Dubuque Fighting Saints on Friday and the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders on Saturday.