LocalSportsJournal.com

The Muskegon Lumberjacks are in the middle of a rare losing streak.

The Lumberjacks closed out the weekend last Sunday with a 2-0 road loss against Youngstown, then followed it up Friday night with an overtime defeat against host Dubuque Fighting Saints.

Muskegon is now 35-12-4 on the season, good for 74 points and first place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference. The Lumberjacks currently hold a 13-point lead over second place Chicago.

The Lumberjacks will close out their four-game road trip on Saturday night with a contest against the Central Illinois Flying Aces.

Muskegon opened the scoring at the 15:58 mark of the first period on a goal from Mikael Hakkarainen.

The Lumberjacks led 1-0 at the end of the first period while outshooting the Fighting Saints by a 13-11 margin.

Dubuque tied the game 1-1 on a power play tally by J.D. Greenway 1:25 into the second period.

The Lumberjacks scored on an unassisted shorthanded goal by Ryan Savage to take a 2-1 lead at the 9:10 mark of the second period.

The Fighting Saints tied the game 2-2 at the 11:59 mark of the third period on a goal from Cooper Haar.

The contest remained tied at the end of regulation.

The Fighting Saints scored the game-winning goal 2:02 into the overtime period on a goal from Matias Maccelli.

The Lumberjacks outshot Dubuque by a 35-33 margin.

Brandon Bussi stopped 30 of 33 shots for Muskegon in net.