LocalSportsJournal.com

The Muskegon Lumberjacks have cooled off a bit.

After winning eight of nine games, the Jacks fell to Dubuque last Saturday, then dropped a disappointing 5-1 decision to the Green Bay Gamblers on Friday at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Green Bay goalkeeper David Hrenak came up huge for the Gamblers, stopping 32 Muskegon shots.

The Lumberjacks are now 23-13-3 on the season, good for 49 points and a tie for third place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference with the Youngstown Phantoms. They are six points behind first-place Dubuque and five points behind second-place Chicago.

The Lumberjacks and Green Bay will play again on Saturday night in the final game of their season series.

The Gamblers opened the game with two quick goals by Matt Jennings within the first three minutes. The first goal came just 10 seconds into the contest.

Green Bay added a goal from Josh Kosack at 11:02 of the first period to take a 3-0 lead.

Jason Dhooghe scored at 7:16 of the second period to put the Gamblers up 4-0.

Muskegon finally got on the board 16:44 into the third period on a goal from Anthony Del Gaizo. The Gamblers closed the scoring with 2:28 left in the game on a goal from former Lumberjack Dante Palecco.

The Lumberjacks outshot Green Bay by a 33-24 margin. Muskegon goaltender Keith Petruzzelli stopped 19 shots.