LocalSportsJournal.com
One disastrous period was all it took for the Muskegon Lumberjacks to be taken off of Cloud 9 by the Madison Capitols in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals.
The Lumberjacks entered the game with a 2-1 series lead and a win would have secured Muskegon’s berth into the Clark Cup Finals.
But three second-period goals by Madison halted the Lumberjacks’ momentum with a 3-1 loss.
The Capitols’ first strike came just 30 seconds into the second period on a Nick DeSantis goal. Not even five minutes later, Madison took a 2-0 lead after a Ben Dexheimer goal.
Quinn Finley put Madison up with a commanding 3-0 lead just before the end of the period.
Muskegon struggled to find its offensive prowess as it managed just four shots in the opening period of play. The Lumberjacks managed to put the puck on net 12 times in the rough second period, but to no avail.
Quinn Hutson tallied the Lumberjacks’ lone goal on an assist from Joey Larson with nearly eight minutes left in regulation.
But Madison continued to own Muskegon as it outshot the Lumberjacks 19-7 in the final 20 minutes of action.
Muskegon goalie Chase Clark took the loss in net, stopping 34 Madison shots.
The power play was also no help for Muskegon as it went 0-3 on the night.
The Lumberjacks will now have to come up big at home on Thursday for a deciding Game 5 at 7 p.m.
