LocalSportsJournal.com
It took the fifth game of the season for the Muskegon Lumberjacks to earn their first win of the season.
The Lumberjacks ended their season opening five-game road swing by snapping a four-game losing streak, cruising past Team USA 8-1 on Friday night.
Muskegon, which is now 1-4 on the season, will host its home opener Saturday night against Team USA at the L.C. Walker Arena. Faceoff is slated for 7:05 p.m. EST.
The Lumberjacks jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first period on three goals by Oliver MacDonald and a single tally from Dylan Gratton.
Muskegon increased its lead to 6-0 with goals from Tanner Edwards at the 1:27 mark of the second period and Alex Gaffney 14:02 into the second stanza.
Team USA finally broke the shutout bid with a goal from Ty Gallagher at the 18:38 mark of the second period.
The Lumberjacks increased their lead to 7-1 at the 2:39 mark of the third period with a goal by John Prokop.
MacDonald closed out the scoring for the Jacks at the 5:08 mark of the third period with his four goal of the night.
Danil Gushchin chipped in with four assists for the Lumberjacks while Iivari Rasanen, Alex Konovalov, Christophe Fillion and Edwards had two apiece.
The Lumberjacks outshot the Team USA squad by a slim 44-42 margin.
Muskegon goaltender Noah Giesbrecht stopped 41 shots in goal for the Lumberjacks.
