Lumberjacks drops second straight to Green Bay, this time in shootout

By Dave Hart
LocalSportsJournal.com

MUSKEGON – For the second straight night, the Muskegon Lumberjacks had a two-goal deficit during the third period and found a way to earn a point in the standings.

On Friday night, Muskegon trailed 2-0 with less than 10 minutes remaining in regulation before scoring two late goals to force overtime. Green Bay eventually gained the extra point with a 3-2 win.

The Lumberjacks, on Saturday, wiped away another two-goal deficit before scoring three unanswered goals to take a one-goal lead before Green Bay managed to tie the game up to force yet another extra period.

Both teams failed to score during the extra five-minute overtime and that put the Lumberjacks into their first shootout of the season.

The Gamblers managed to score the lone goal in the fifth round of the shootout to propel Green Bay to a 6-5 win over the Lumberjacks at Trinity Health Arena.

Julian Lutz scored the game-winner after both teams failed to score in the previous four rounds of the shootout.

The Lumberjacks have now lost two straight games, but have earned single points in each of the contests.

Muskegon is now 7-2-2 on the season, good for 16 points and second place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference standings.

The Lumberjacks will look to pick up at least one win in this three-game series with Green Bay on Sunday. Faceoff is slated for 3:10 p.m.

“The difference tonight was we were in control while going 5-on-5,” said Lumberjacks head coach Parker Burgess. “But we were not able to execute on the penalty kill and so special teams was the difference. That happens when two good hockey teams play.”

The Gamblers were strong with the man advantage, going 3-for-5 on the power play while also scoring a shorthanded goal. The Lumberjacks only had two power plays and managed to score on one of the chances.

It didn’t take long for Muskegon to open the scoring as captain Cody Croal took the puck in front of the net and snapped it home for an unassisted goal just 16 seconds into the contest to give Muskegon a 1-0 lead.

Muskegon added to its advantage after being awarded its first power play of the contest at the 2:45 mark of the first period. Sacha Boisvert notched his eighth goal of the season 4:26 into the opening period while on the power play to give the Jacks an early 2-0 advantage.

The Gamblers responded with their own power-play goal at the 6:55 mark from Jayson Shaugabay to cut their deficit to 2-1.

The Lumberjacks held a 2-1 advantage while outshooting Green Bay 13-9 during the first 20 minutes of play.

Green Bay completed the two-goal comeback at the 10:36 mark of the second period with a power-play goal from Blake Bechen.

The Gamblers had a chance to take their first lead of the night after Muskegon was ticketed for a pair of penalties, giving Green Bay a two-man advantage for 1:37 at the 12:17 mark of the second period.

Muskegon killed off both penalties and kept the contest deadlocked late in the middle period.

The Lumberjacks also had a chance to regain their advantage with a power-play opportunity, but Green Bay managed to take its first lead of the night on a shorthanded goal. Jason Gallucci found the back of the net 16:14 into the second period to give the Gamblers a 3-2 advantage.

The Gamblers led 3-2 heading into the final 20 minutes of play despite Muskegon outshooting them 28-18.

Green Bay increased its lead to 4-2 at the 1:43 mark of the third period on a goal from Geno Carcone.

The Lumberjacks fought right back, scoring a pair of goals just 39 seconds apart. Boisvert scored his second of the game and ninth of the season at the 6:05 mark of the third period to cut the Lumberjacks deficit to a 4-3 margin. Muskegon then tied the game 4-4 on a goal from Ty Henricks 6:44 into the final stanza.

The Lumberjacks continued to hold on to the momentum by scoring a third straight goal to take a 5-4 lead.

Hunter Anderson tallied his sixth goal of the season at the 9:12 mark of third period to give Muskegon the lead back.

The Gamblers connected on a power-play goal from Bechen 11:25 into the final stanza to tie the contest 5-5 late into the contest to force another overtime. Both teams failed to score during the five-minute period and forced a three-round shootout.

Lutz finally ended the shootout goal drought, notching the game-winner in the fifth round.

The Lumberjacks outshot Green Bay 43-29. Muskegon’s Paxton Geisel stopped 23-of-29 shots on net.

“If we can win tomorrow (Sunday) and take four points out of a three-day weekend series, we will be pretty happy,” Burgess said. “Hopefully our depth and energy will show going into tomorrow (Sunday).”

Photos by Sondra Workman