LocalSportsJournal.com

The Muskegon Lumberjacks halted their short two-game winless streak with a bounce back victory on Saturday night.

The Lumberjacks, who fell Friday night to Green Bay 5-1, avenged their loss to the Gamblers, picking up a 4-2 win at the Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Muskegon is now 24-13-3 on the season, good for 51 points and third place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference. The Lumberjacks are five points behind first-place Dubuque in the standings and have a seven-point lead over the Gamblers for the final playoff spot.

The Jacks will return home next weekend to face the Des Moines Buccaneers on Friday and Saturday night at the L.C. Walker Arena. Both games are slated to start at 7:15 p.m.

Travis Mitchell paced Muskegon with his first two goals of the season, while Casey Gilling added a goal and an assist. Garrett Van Wyhe chipped in with two assists for the Lumberjacks.

Muskegon’s goaltender Adam Brizgala picked up the win in net, stopping 26 of 28 Green Bay shots.

The Gamblers opened the scoring with a power play goal from Chris Grando at the 1:33 mark of the first period to give Green Bay a 1-0 lead.

Muskegon responded with two goals 20 seconds apart to take a 2-1 advantage.

Mikael Hakkarainen tied the game 1-1 at the 3:07 mark of the second period before Mitchell gave the Lumberjacks the lead 2-1 at the 3:27 mark.

Mitchell, whose goal was his first of the season, added another tally at the 9:22 mark of the second period to increase Muskegon’s lead to 3-1.

Green Bay cut its deficit to 3-2 on a goal from Jared Spooner on a power play 14:32 into the second period.

The Jacks led 3-2 heading into the final stanza.

Muskegon increased its lead to 4-2 at the 8:22 mark of the third period on a goal by Gilling.

The Lumberjacks, who are second in the league in shots per game, outshot Green Bay by a 38-28 margin.