LocalSportsJournal.com
The Muskegon Lumberjacks head into the final day of the regular season with a chance at the second seed of the playoffs and a first-round bye.
The Lumberjacks defeated the Chicago Steel 7-3 on Friday to improve to 37-22-2 on the season, good for 76 points and third place in the Eastern Conference.
The second-place Green Bay Gamblers lost a lead with four seconds left in regulation and fell short in overtime against Madison.
Muskegon is just one point behind the Gamblers heading into its final game of the season on Saturday on the road against the Chicago Steel.
A Lumberjacks’ win and Green Bay loss will give Muskegon a first-round bye in the postseason, while a loss or Gambler win will force the Jacks to play on Monday through Wednesday at home in the opening round.
Muskegon led 2-1 at the end of the first period as all three goals came late in the frame.
Justin Solovey opened the scoring for the Jacks at 17:14, then Chicago tied the contest with a goal from Ryder Betzold at the 18:55 mark.
David Klee responded for Muskegon with a goal 19:19 into the first period.
The Steel tied the contest 2-2 at the 12:33 mark on a goal by Brady Arneson.
The Lumberjacks countered with goals from Sacha Boisvert (13:28) and Joe Connor (15:09) to take a 4-2 lead into the second intermission.
Cody Croal scored an early third-period goal at the 1:58 mark, then Boisvert added his second of the night 11:29 into the frame to increase the Jacks lead to 6-2.
Chicago scored its third goal of the contest 13:51 into the final period from Teddy Mutryn, then Matvei Gridin closed out the scoring with a goal for Muskegon at the 18:27 mark.
The Steel outshot Muskegon 32-27 as Lumberjack goaltender Shikhabutdin Gadzhiev stopped 29 shots on goal.
The Lumberjacks were a perfect 3-for-3 on the power play while killing off three-of-four penalties.
