Men's Ice Hockey | 4/18/2026 10:01:02 PM

Madison Capitols 1, Youngstown Phantoms 0 (OT) | VIDEO RECAP
The Phantoms outshot the Capitols 40-14, including 33-10 in the final two periods and overtime, but Madison goalie and Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Caleb Heil was perfect, and Eero Butella scored at 17:06 of the extra period to give the Phantoms a two-game lead in the best-of-five Eastern Conference Semifinal. Both teams were unsuccessful on power plays in the first and third periods, with the Capitols killing a critical minor penalty with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. Youngstown had five players finish with three or more shots on goal, led by Richard Zemlicka, who had eight.

Fargo Force 4, Sioux City Musketeers 1 | VIDEO RECAP
Kolin Sisson scored less than five minutes into Fargo’s first game of the 2026 Clark Cup Playoffs, and Cullen McCrate tallied one of his own to give the Force a 2-0 lead at the first intermission.  Fargo’s sellout crowd watched the team outshoot Sioux City 17-8 in the opening frame. The gap would eventually be narrowed to 46-31 by the end of the game.

The Musketeers failed to find offense until the Force had already scored twice more, with Gavin Uhlenkamp at 9:55 of the second period and Graham Jones sending a wrist shot through traffic to make it 4-0 just six minutes into the third. Aidan Dyer had Sioux City’s lone goal. Ajay White made 30 saves for Fargo. Jack Fichthorn turned aside 42 of 46 shots for the Musketeers.

Fargo leads the best-of-five Western Conference Semifinal series, 1-0.

Muskegon Lumberjacks 6, Dubuque Fighting Saints 2 | VIDEO RECAP
Muskegon rebounded from dropping the first game of the series with an eruption of offense in the second. Still, however, it was Dubuque that scored first. Michael Barron scored at 2:04 of the first period, but Anthony Thomas-Maroon quickly crashed the net to bury a rebound on the opposite end of the ice and erase the only lead the Fighting Saints held on Saturday. Max Cullen scored his second goal of the postseason later in the first period to give Muskegon a one-goal lead at the intermission, which they’d double by the end of the second period with tallies from Ty Bergeron and Chuck Blanchard. Barron scored off the rush to make it a 4-2 game at 3:44 of the third period, but Dubuque’s excitement was tempered with Jack Christ and Drew Stewart sealing a win with more goals for the Lumberjacks. Stewart and Bergeron both had one goal and one assist for Muskegon. Carl Axelsson made 15 saves on 17 shots, and Vojtech Hambalek had 27 stops for Dubuque.

About the USHL

The United States Hockey League (USHL) and its 16 teams are committed to being the world's leading junior hockey league. This season, more than 50% of NCAA Division I men's hockey players and nearly 25% of NHL players have USHL experience. The USHL has developed more than 285 direct NHL Draft picks since 2020, and nine of the last 10 Hobey Baker Award winners, including Macklin Celebrini (Chicago Steel).

Elevated through the recently announced Declaration of Excellence with the NHL and USA Hockey, the league's player-first approach, including a 2:1 practice-to-game ratio and a schedule with 90% of games played on weekends, provides its players with the optimal environment for athletic and personal growth, creating pathways for the next generation of stars like Auston Matthews (NTDP), Kyle Connor (Youngstown Phantoms), Jeremy Swayman (Sioux Falls Stampede), and Johnny Gaudreau (Dubuque Fighting Saints).