MUSKEGON - Looking to continue their strong play from last week in Nebraska the Muskegon Lumberjacks (10-7-1-1, 22 pts.) took to their home ice at Trinity Health Arena on Friday night for the first leg of a two-game series against the Madison Capitols (9-6-2-2, 22 pts.). With no winner through 65 minutes of play, a shootout was needed, and Matvei Gridin (Kurgan, RUS) delivered to give the Jacks their second straight win.
The two straight wins against Madison and Tri-City (11/18, 6-5) mark the first time the Jacks have won two straight games since picking up a three-game win streak starting October, 14th in Madison and ending October 21st against the USNTDP Under-17 team.
Muskegon opened the scoring just a minute and a half into the contest on a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play started by Gridin. After entering the offensive zone on the near side wall Gridin slid the puck across the slot to Cody Croal (North Branch, MN). The captain then fired a shot pass off the stick of David Klee (Castle Rock, CO) and into the back of the net. For Klee, it is his 4th goal of the season while it was the 11th assist of the campaign for both Gridin and Croal. Gridin also extends his team-leading point total to 22 with the assist.
Two straight goals for Madison helped them tie the game, then take a 2-1 lead Both goals came from the stick of forward Andrew Kuzma. First, at the 16:04 mark of the first period, Kuzma tied the game on a power play goal by getting a pass on the far side of the Jack's zone from James Hong. Then, in the second period just one minute into the frame, Kuzma buried a solo effort to give his team the lead.
It took Muskegon all the way until the 16:31 mark of the third period to find the back of the net again to tie the game. The Jack's top forward line of Sacha Boisvert (Trois-Rivieres, QC, CAN), Justin Solovey (Holmdel, NJ), and Hunter Anderson (Manhattan Beach, CA) applied a strong forecheck in the Madison zone to keep the puck deep in the offensive end. After suffocating the Madison defense with lots of zone time Boisvert fired a shot on net from the top of the near side circle that produced a rebound straight to Solovey. The New Jersey native took a shot of his own that was stopped, but the puck trickled past the goalie and to the stick of Anderson who tapped it to the back of the net for his 11th goal of the season.
Despite having many quality looks while on a 4-on-3 power play in overtime the Jack's were unable to find the back of the net in the extra period so a shootout followed to determine a winner. Each team sent out three skaters all of whom were turned aside by the netminders. Lukas Swedin(Stockholm, SWE) stopped the fourth Madison shooter putting the game onto the stick of Gridin. Weaving into the offensive zone, Gridin moved in towards the net from the far side and used a wrist shot to get the puck to the low nearside corner of the net to win the game for the Lumberjacks.
The only other shootout game this season for Muskegon came when the Green Bay Gamblers defeated the Jacks 6-5 on October 28th.
Swedin (4-2-1-0) earned the win by stopping 18 of the 20 shots sent his way by the Capitol's offense. Cameron Musser (4-2-2-2) earned the shootout loss on his record despite turning away 28 of 30 shots faced, and backstopping a 4-on-3 kill in overtime.
The teams close out the weekend series tomorrow night Saturday, November, 25th at 7 p.m. for tickets visit muskegonlumberjacks.com or visit the box office located inside the VanDyke Mortgage Convention Center on game day. Can't make it to the game? Don't worry. We've got you covered! FloHockey is the official live stream partner of the USHL. A free radio internet stream is also available on the Lumberjacks Hockey Network on Mixlr.
For Schedules, scores, updates, and more follow the Lumberjacks on social media @muskegonjacks!
