MUSKEGON, Michigan (March 21st) – It wasn’t meant to be tonight for the Muskegon Lumberjacks as they not only saw their USHL and season-high six-game winning streak come to an end, but they were also shutout for the fourth time this season as the Indiana Ice used early offense to come away with a 5-0 victory at the L.C. Walker Arena with former Lumberjack Hayden Stewart (17-6-1) earning his fifth shutout of the season.
The first 20 minutes belonged to the visiting Ice (37-9-7, 81 points) as they notched a trio of goals to jump ahead by a 3-0 score going into the second period. Beginning at the 2:14 mark, Jacob Pritchard potted a power play goal in the low slot and wrapped it around the left pad of Eric Schierhorn (17-15-1) for his 13th goal of the year that was set up by Scott Conway and Brian Pinho to give the Ice an early 1-0 lead.
Just past the halfway point of the opening frame at the 10:02 mark, Indiana doubled their lead to 2-0 with a goal from Conway as he beat Schierhorn over the glove side from the left faceoff circle for his team-leading 26th goal of the season that was helped by Patrick Newell. As the period was about to expire at the 18:42 mark, the Ice would triple their lead courtesy of Dwyer Tschantz as he slid one past the outstretched right pad of Schierhorn while parked in front for his 21st of the season that was assisted by Newell and Conway.
Through the opening stanza, the Ice controlled the pace of play while owning the shot battle by an 11-4 margin. Going into the second period, Schierhorn would be relieved of his duties in favor of Jordan Uhelski after stopping 8 of the 11 shots he faced during the first period.
Indiana continued to build on their lead in the second period tallying two power play goals to take a 5-0 lead going into the final 20 minutes.
At the 9:27 mark, Jason Salvaggio one-timed his 14th goal of the season from the left faceoff circle past the blocker side of Uhelski that was aided by Timothy Shoup and Ryan Mantha. Minutes later at the 12:41 mark, Newell chipped one over the right pad of Uhelski while crashing the net for his 12th marker of the year that was helped by Conway and Joshua Jacobs to cap off the second period scoring for the visitors.
The shot battle through the first 40 minutes of play were still heavily in favor of the Ice as they stretched it out to a 30-6 margin.
The third period featured no scoring as the Lumberjacks (26-23-4, 56 points) were unable to get any of their 9 shots past Stewart that proved to be more than enough once the final buzzer sounded. Indiana outshot Muskegon for the game by a 43-15 margin.
Hayden Stewart improved to 11-0-0 as a member of the Ice stopping all 15 shots that he faced for the game, while Jordan Uhelski stopped 30 of 32 shots in his two periods of relief work. Indiana’s offense was spearheaded by Scott Conway with a goal plus three assists along with Patrick Newell contributing with a goal and two assists of his own. Muskegon drops to 3-4-0 against Indiana this season with one regular season meeting left in downtown Indianapolis on Sunday afternoon.
The Lumberjacks will be back at home tomorrow night for a 7:15 pm clash against the USNTDP Under-17 Team. Following tomorrow’s game, Muskegon will travel to downtown Indianapolis, Indiana for a clash against the Ice on Sunday at 3:05 pm to complete the three-game weekend.
Tomorrow’s game will feature Beach Night along with the return of Subway Saturday. If the Lumberjacks beat the USNTDP Under-17 Team, 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 all next week 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 for Muskegon’s next pair of home contests on Friday, March 28th and Saturday, March 29th against the Omaha Lancers and Lincoln Stars, respectively. Tickets can be purchased at the L.C. Walker Arena 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 Thursday at 6:00 pm on Charter channel 16.
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.
