BENSENVILLE, Illinois (February 22nd) – After a tightly-contested first 40 minutes between two Eastern Conference rivals, the Muskegon Lumberjacks were unable to withstand an offensive barrage from the host Chicago Steel during the final 20 minutes as the home team tallied four goals in the final stanza to pull away from the visitors with a comfortable four-goal victory of 7-3 tonight at The Edge Ice Arena.
Before the crowd could get settled into their seats, the Steel (24-19-3, 51 points) jumped in the board first just 57 seconds into the game as a Muskegon turnover in the high slot led to Robby Jackson sliding backhand through the five-hole of Eric Schierhorn (11-14-1) for his 16th goal of the season to give the hosts an early 1-0 lead. John Ernsting received the lone helper on the Jackson tally.
Shortly after at the 6:44 mark, the Lumberjacks were on their first power play of the evening only to have Chicago pot a shorthanded goal courtesy of C.J. Smith as he slid a forehand breakaway attempt past the outstretched left pad of Schierhorn for his team-leading 19th goal of the season to give the home team a 2-0 lead.
No scoring occurred for the remainder of the opening frame as the Lumberjacks outshot the Steel by a 13-11 margin going into the second period.
Early in the second period, the Lumberjacks (20-22-4, 44 points) sliced the deficit in half to 2-1 just 1:06 into the middle frame as Cullen Hurley found a loose rebound to the right of Chris Nell (15-17-3) after a shot from the right point by Daniel Willett was stopped and slid his 1st goal of the season past Nell’s right pad. Mason Jobst also helped on the first Muskegon goal of the night.
Minutes later at the 4:13 mark, the Lumberjacks used the power play to their advantage as Jack Rowe slid a pass from the left faceoff circle over to Matt Iacopelli who one-timed his team-leading 33rd goal of the season from the right faceoff circle to even the game at 2-2. Jobst also assisted on the man advantage marker from Iacopelli.
The score held into the second half of the middle stanza until Chicago got their lead back at the 12:42 mark as a two-on-one opportunity resulted in Jackson lifting one-time backhanded shot over a sprawling Schierhorn for his second of the night and 17th of the season to give the hosts a 3-2 lead that was set up by Mason Bergh.
A penalty-riddled second period finally ended with the game remaining the same one goal score in favor of the Steel with the Lumberjacks hanging on to the shot advantage by a narrow 28-26 margin.
The third period saw Chicago pull away with four goals in the final 20 minutes that included three within a span of 2:57 to eventually take a 6-2 lead by the 6:52 mark. Beginning at the 3:35 mark, Jackson notched his hat trick goal and 18th marker of the season that was helped by Ernsting followed by a tip-in goal by Danny Fetzer for his 11th marker of the season at the 5:44 mark that was set up by Conor McDonald and ending with a marker from Frederik Olofsson for his 4th of the year and 2nd as a member of Chicago that was aided by Alec Vanko to give the Steel their biggest lead of the night.
Following Chicago’s 6th of the evening, Schierhorn would be relieved of his duties in favor of Jordan Uhelski after stopping 30 of 36 shots on the night and taking the eventual loss in net.
Muskegon did get a goal back at the 10:08 mark courtesy of Chris Dodero as he swatted his 5th goal of the season and 4th as a Lumberjack off a loose puck in the slow slot that was helped Hurley and Joseph Cecconi to get the game back to within 6-3.
Just 49 seconds later, Chicago got the final say on the evening with Olofsson’s second of the game and 5th of the season that was assisted by Jackson to give the hosts their four-goal victory. The Lumberjacks outshot the Steel by the slimmest of margins for the game by a 44-43 margin, and Uhelski ended up stopping six of seven shots in his 13:08 of relief work.
Chris Nell picked up the victory between the pipes for Chicago making 41 saves on the night with the offense being led by Robby Jackson with his four-point effort (three goals plus one assist) along with Frederik Olofsson (two goals) and John Ernsting (two assists) chipping in with two points each. Muskegon was led offensively by Cullen Hurley (one goal and one assist) and Mason Jobst (two assists) with two points each in the road loss and fall to 1-3-0 against Chicago this season with one regular season meeting left on Friday, April 4th back at The Edge Ice Arena.
Muskegon returns home for two games next weekend 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 presented by Tim Hortons, where fans are invited to wear their favorite team’s jerseys to the game and can register to try and win prizes courtesy of Tim Hortons. Also, Flapjack Friday returns courtesy of the Muskegon Lions Club in which fans can stop by the Party Deck from 6:15-8:15 pm and get a delicious Pancake Dinner for only $5 to includes pancakes, sausage, and juice.
Saturday’s game is a part of Hockey Weekend 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. Also, the night will feature a postgame skate with the Lumberjacks team.
Individual game tickets will be on sale all next week 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.
Individual game tickets are on sale during next week for the low price of $10 for adults and $6 for children ages 3-12 for the Lumberjacks’ next pair of home games. 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.
