MUSKEGON, Michigan (February 15th) – The puck did not bounce the right way from start to finish tonight for the Muskegon Lumberjacks as they allowed a season-high eight goals to the visiting Chicago Steel.  The Steel scored seven out of the last eight goals to conclude the evening as the visitors raced to a comfortable 8-2 victory over the Lumberjacks at the L.C. Walker Arena.

After a scoreless first ten minutes of the game, the Steel (21-19-4, 45 points) got on the scoreboard first at the 10:06 mark as Robbie Payne ripped a wrist shot from a sharp angle to the left of Jordan Uhelski (9-8-3) and sniped it over Uhelski’s right shoulder for his 13th of the year to give the visitors an early 1-0 lead that was helped by Brendon Kearney.

Later in the opening frame at the 16:17 mark, the Lumberjacks (20-20-4, 44 points) evened the game at 1-1 as Mason Jobst found a loose puck in the low slot and spun backhand past the outstretched left pad of Chris Nell (13-17-3) for his 8th goal of the season that was set up by Trevor Morbeck.

Just as the first period was about to expire, Chicago snagged their second lead of the evening that they would not relinquish with 54 seconds to go as a slap shot from Connor McDonald at the right point deflected off the mask of Uhelski, and John Ernsting found a loose rebound and lifted the puck over Uhelski’s left pad to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.

The game remained the same one goal game into the first intermission with the Lumberjacks outshooting the Steel by a 15-11 margin.

The second period belonged to the visiting Steel as they tallied four goals in the during the middle 20 minutes that began just 40 seconds into the stanza as former Lumberjack C.J. Smith was found alone on the backdoor to the left of Uhelski one-timed his team-leading 17th goal of the season to make it 3-1 that was assisted by Victor Bjorkung and Frederik Olofsson.

Minutes later at the 5:54 mark, the Steel took a 4-1 lead as a bad Lumberjacks turnover led a backhand goal from between the faceoff circles as Bergh backhanded his 7th marker of the year over Uhelski’s glove hand that was helped by Artem Artemov and Bjorkung.  Chicago continued to cruise along taking a 5-1 lead at the 9:26 mark as John Schilling one-timed a backdoor goal of his own to Uhelski’s left for his 7th goal of the season that was aided by Mason Bergh.

To cap off the furious offensively rally by the Steel in the second period, they made it 6-1 at the 11:12 mark as Ernsting laced his second of the night and 8th of the season that was helped by Bjorkung and Alec Vanko.

Chicago took their five-goal lead into the second intermission with the Lumberjacks still leading the shot battle by a wide 32-17 margin.

The visiting team continued the offensive onslaught into the third period as Bjorkung (3rd goal of the season) and Kearney (1st goal of the season) both scored unassisted goals at the 6:30 and 9:28 marks, respectively, to make it an 8-1 game before Muskegon capped off the scoring for the night at the 14:12 mark as Matt Iacopelli scored his team-leading 31st goal of the year on the power play as his wrist shot from the left faceoff circle went under the left pad of Nell and into the back of the net that was assisted by Christian Wolanin and Chase Hatcher.

Muskegon reached a season-high in shots on goal for the game with 51 on the night, while Chicago had 24 shots of their own in the road victory.  Chris Nell earned the victory in net stopping 49 shots for the Steel, while Jordan Uhelski took the loss between the pipes for the Lumberjacks stopping 16 of 24 shots.  Chicago was led offensively by Victor Bjorkung with one goal and three assists along with three others contributing with two points each.  Muskegon falls to 1-2-0 against Chicago this season with one regular season meeting left between the two Eastern Conference rivals on Friday, April 4th at the Edge Arena in Bensenville, Illinois.

The Lumberjacks take to the road next weekend for two games beginning next Friday, February 21st against the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders at 8:05 pm followed a return bout against the Chicago Steel the following night on Saturday, February 22nd at 8:00 pm.

The following weekend, Muskegon returns home for two games against Western Conference opposition on Friday, February 28th and Saturday, March 1st against the Des Moines Buccaneers and Waterloo Black Hawks, respectively, with both games slated for 7:15 pm.

Friday’s game features Jersey Day, where fans are invited to wear their favorite team’s apparel to the game, while Saturday’s game is a part of Hockey Day Across America and signals the return of our Subway Saturday promotion.  If the Lumberjacks beat the Black Hawks on that Saturday, every fan that is in attendance can redeem their ticket stubs at any participating West Michigan Subway location for a buy one six-inch sub and get another six-inch sub of equal or lesser value for free.

Individual game tickets will be on sale during the next two weeks for the low price of $10 for adults and $6 for children ages 3-12 for the next pair of home contests.  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.  You can also catch the Lumberjacks on Michigan TV and Sports with the Muskegon Lumberjack “Game of the Week” every Wednesday at 8:00 pm on Comcast channel 397 (or over the air on channel 38).

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.