LocalSportsJournal.com
GREEN BAY – A late costly penalty cost the Muskegon Lumberjacks a chance of moving on to the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday night.
The contest was deadlocked 1-1 with a 1:28 remaining in regulation when the Lumberjacks Ethan Whitcomb was called for a high stick penalty.
Jayson Shaugabay connected with the game-winning goal with 36 seconds left in regulation to propel the Green Bay Gamblers over Muskegon at Rensch Center in Wisconsin.
The best-of-five Eastern Conference semifinal round is now tied at two victories apiece with the winner-take-all Game 5 on Friday at Trinity Health Arena.
The winner will face first-place Dubuque in the conference finals next week.
The Gamblers opened the scoring 2:38 into the contest on a goal from Ben Poitras.
The Lumberjacks tied the contest 1-1 with a goal from Joe Connor at the 11:11 mark of the first period.
The contest remained tied until the final minutes of regulation.
It looked like the game was destined for overtime, until Green Bay connected with a power-play goal from Shaugabay in the final seconds.
The Lumberjacks outshot Green Bay 32-23 as Shikhabutdin Gadzhiev stopped 21-of-23 shots on goal.
Muskegon struggled while on its man advantage, going 0-for-4 while the Gamblers were 1-for-3.