INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (January 11th) – In what looked like a tight, close-knit battle between two Eastern Conference rivals turned into a runaway victory late for the host Indiana Ice as the Muskegon Lumberjacks were unable to take advantage of early power play opportunities only to salvage a season-low 15 shots on goal for the entirety falling by a 4-1 final tonight at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis.

In a tightly-contested first period, the Lumberjacks (15-16-4, 34 points) were able to get on the board first at the 11:20 mark as Matt Mendelson was able to shake netminder Jason Pawloski (17-4-4) from behind the Ice net with a move and wrap it around to the right through the five-hole for his 13th marker of the season to make it a 1-0 game that was set up by Cooper Marody and Scott Pooley.

The one goal game remained the same going into the first intermission as the Ice held the shot advantage by a 12-6 margin and included the Lumberjacks going empty on four power play opportunities in the first 20 minutes of play.

Early in the second period, the Ice (19-6-5, 43 points) would counter to knot the game even at 1-1 just 26 seconds into the middle frame as right after a penalty to Connor Wood had expired, Denis Smirnov one-timed a shot from the right faceoff circle through Eric Schierhorn’s (9-9-1) five-hole for his 8th of the year that was assisted by Austin Kosack and Scott Conway.

The middle frame went on with the score the same until the waning moments of the period when the Ice took advantage of an unfortunate bounce by the Lumberjacks as a pass from Carson Gatt, who was looking for his teammate behind the Muskegon net, hit the referee in the near side corner and shot right to Mitch Hults who then slid it to Brian Pinho in between the faceoff circles in which he rifled his 9th goal of the season past Schierhorn’s blocker to make it 2-1 in favor of the hosts.

The Ice took their one goal advantage into the second intermission after outshooting the Lumberjacks in the second period by a 17-7 margin.

Indiana continued to force the issue offensively into the third period grabbing a 3-1 lead just 59 seconds into the final frame as Patrick Newell ripped a screen shot of the top of the slot past Schierhorn’s right side low for his 7th of the season that was helped by Vince Pedrie and Smirnov.

Later in the final period at the 14:22 mark, the Ice capped off the scoring on the power play to take a three-goal lead at 4-1 as Smirnov as able to sneak one on the back door to the left of Schierhorn past his outstretched glove for his second of the night and 9th goal of the season that was helped by Dwyer Tschantz and Kosack.

Defensively, the Ice bottled up the Lumberjacks’ offensive attack holding them to a season-low in shots for the game of 15 including only allowing 2 in the third period alone as they took full control in the shot battle by a 48-15 final on the night.

Jason Pawloski earned another victory in net for the hosts only having to stop 14 shots for the game, while Eric Schierhorn battled hard, but took the loss between the pipes for the Lumberjacks making 44 saves on the night.  The Ice were led offensively by Denis Smirnov with his two goals plus one assist along with Austin Kosack chipping in with two assists of his own.  The Lumberjacks fall to 2-3-0 against the Ice this season with three regular season meetings left.

The Lumberjacks will conclude their eight-game road swing next weekend with a pair of games beginning on Friday, January 17th at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube against the USNTDP Under-18 Team at 7:00 pm followed by a trip back to the Covelli Centre to take on the Youngstown Phantoms on Saturday, January 18th at 7:05 pm.

The next pair of home games for the Lumberjacks will be on Friday, January 24th and Saturday, January 25th against the U.S. National Development Program at 7:15 pm, respectively.  Friday’s game against the Under-17 Team will feature the second and final trading card giveaway of the season along with the return of our “Jacks Win You Win” promotion.  If the Lumberjacks win on Friday, every fan in attendance will receive a $5 Sport Clips gift card.

Saturday’s game against the Under-18 Team will feature our annual “Jacks Fight Cancer” Game presented by Mercy Health Partners.  Fans can contribute to the event in numerous ways in which proceeds will be donated to the Johnson Family Cancer Center, and more information can be found on the Lumberjacks’ Facebook page by searching “Muskegon Lumberjacks.”  Additionally, our “Subway Saturday” promotion returns, where if the Lumberjacks win on Saturday, fans that attend the game can present their ticket stubs at any participating West Michigan Subway location for a buy one six-inch sub, get another six-inch sub of equal or lesser value for free.

Individual game tickets will be on sale for the next pair of home games over the next few weeks for the low price of $10 for adults and $6 for children ages 3-12 if they are purchased before the day of the game.  Tickets can be purchased at the Lumberjacks’ Box Office or by calling (231) 724-5225.

The exclusive radio home for the Muskegon Lumberjacks all season long is 92.5 FM WLAW “The Outlaw” as Bryan Fongers delivers the call beginning ten minutes prior to puck drop.

The proud home of all Muskegon Lumberjacks home games is the L.C. Walker Arena in downtown Muskegon located just minutes from the beautiful Lake Michigan Shoreline.  Muskegon Lumberjacks hockey, “Experience the Buzz!”

The Muskegon Lumberjacks are proud members of the United States Hockey League, the nation’s only Tier I junior hockey league and the leading producer of NCAA players and National Hockey League draft picks in the United States.  The Lumberjacks’ organization prides itself on developing not just premier hockey talent, but also exceptional young men outside the arena of sports.  For more information, visit www.muskegonlumberjacks.com.