The Green Bay Gamblers dropped Game 1 of the playoffs Friday night, falling 2-1 to The Madison Capitols despite controlling the pace of play most of the night. Now, it’s a must-win situation heading into Game 2 at the Resch Center on Saturday night.

 

The Gamblers came out strong early and were rewarded midway through the first when Will Wooten cashed in on the power play giving Green Bay a brief 1-0 lead.

Madison answered just over two minutes later, tying it up before the end of the period despite being heavily outshot.

 

The second period turned the game. After killing off pressure for most of the night, Green Bay ran into penalty trouble late and Madison capitalized on the power play with under two minutes left in the period to take a 2-1 lead.

 

Green Bay pushed in the third, outshooting Madison and generating chances, but couldn’t solve the goalie and they fell in the series first game. 

 

The Gamblers finished with a 37-13 edge in shots, but Raul “Junior” Henriquez only faced limited action on the other end. Madison’s goalie turned aside 36 shots and was the difference.

 

Green Bay now faces a must-win Game 2 Saturday night at the Resch Center, with puck drop set for 6:05 in this best-of-three series.