By Dave Hart
LocalSportsJournal.com

MUSKEGON – It is no secret that Muskegon Lumberjacks goaltender Shikhabudtin Gadzhiev has been a spark plug for his squad and that has resulted in more consistent success over the last couple months.

Early on, the Lumberjacks were hovering near the bottom of the playoff race in the USHL’s Eastern Conference standings. They are now towards the top looking to finish strong to secure a top-2 seed which will give them a bye in the opening round of the playoffs.

The team Muskegon is trying to catch the Dubuque Fighting Saints, which came to town this weekend for a pair of games and despite the Jacks offensive struggles, Gadzhiev made some entertaining saves, keeping his team in the contest early on.

The Fighting Saints were just too much for the Lumberjacks on Friday and they ended up winning 5-0 at Trinity Health Arena.

The Lumberjacks will look to bounce back Saturday in the second game of the set and try to secure a first-round bye in the playoffs. Muskegon has 10 games remaining on its schedule as they are tied with Green Bay for second place and are two points ahead of fourth-place Youngstown.

The Jacks are 31-19-2, which is good for 64 points.

“They are in first place for a reason,” said Lumberjacks coach Parker Burgess. “They don’t give you a lot of opportunities and they have a lot of good players that take advantage of their chances, and they got a few on us. But ‘Shik’ was for sure solid for us tonight.”

Gadzhiev was brilliant in net despite the loss, especially during the first 40 minutes of play as he robbed several Dubuque players in Dominik Hasek-type fashion. He ultimately stopped 30-of-34 shots in the game.

“When I came here, my thoughts were that I wanted to help the team win the Clark Cup,” Gadzhiev said. “I believe we are going to win it because the guys here are fantastic and I want to do everything to help the guys get a chance to win.”

His energy in the locker room is a big reason why the Lumberjacks have risen in the standings in recent months. Gadzhiev entered Friday night’s contest with an 11-6 record with a goal against average of just under 3.50 per game. He also has a save percent of .898, which is the best on the Jacks. Muskegon has had seven goalies this season.

“We are going to need him to get to where we want to be,” Burgess said. “Tonight was a step in the right direction. He loves hockey and it is infectious, especially during some hard days of practice.”

The Fighting Saints scored the lone goal of the first period at the 14:52 mark from Erik Pahlsson.

The Fighting Saints also scored the lone goal of the second period, a tally from Noah Powell with 20 seconds remaining.

The Fighting Saints outscored Muskegon 3-0 during the final period on goals from Lucas St. Louis and two from Powell, which included a late empty-net tally.

Dubuque outshot the Lumberjacks 35-25 as its netminder Dylan Johnson posted a shutout victory.

Photos by Sondra Workman