SIOUX FALLS, SD – For the first time since the 2019-2020 season the Muskegon Lumberjacks (12-9-1-1, 26 pts.) travelled to the state of South Dakota to take on the Sioux Falls Stampede (13-9-1-1, 28 pts.) Despite an 18 shot first period the Jack's troubles finding the back of the net led to a 5-3 Stampede win.
 
Sioux Falls opened the scoring just 3 minutes into the contest thanks to a goal from Hayden Reid. The Clarington, ON, CAN native got the puck at the far side of the net from Egor Barbanov and popped out front before roofing the puck from the tight angle.
 
Muskegon responded with a power play goal at the 11:53 mark. Matvei Gridin (Kurgan, RUS) carried the puck towards the far side of the ice before sending a pass back to where he came from for Sacha Boisvert (Trois-Rivieres, QC, CAN). Without hesitation Bosivert caught the pass and ripped a shot to the back of the net for his 14^th goal of the season.
 
The Jacks then took a 2-1 lead with 2 minutes to play in the frame. Ty Henricks (Mission Viejo, CA) carried the puck into the offensive zone. Henricks sent a pass back door intended for Jack Galanek (Hopkinton, MA) but instead found the stick of Cooper Pierson (Zionsville, IN) who found the back of the net for the third time this season.
 
Before the end of the period though Sioux Falls tied the game back up. JJ Wiebusch was able to find the back of the net on assists from John McNelis and Alexander Rybakov to even the game ahead of the first intermission.
 
In the second period only one player was able to find the back of the net, and it was Grant Dillard to take a 3-2 lead for Sioux Falls. Artur Cholach carried the puck into the offensive zone and dropped a pass for Dillard who sent a shot to the far post and into the back of the net.
 
The game was tied back up at 3-3 just two and a half minutes into the third period. Teddy Spitznagel (New York, NY) forced a turnover in the Lumberjacks zone and chipped a pass to Patrick Raftery (Centennial, CO) behind the Stampede defense. Raftery stick handled a couple of times as he worked towards the net before firing a shot past the netminder.
 
Later in the third period while on a power play Sioux Falls regained their lead thanks to the second goal of the game from Wiebush. An empty net goal in the final seconds from Tyler Borgula put the game on ice, and the Stampede won 5-3.
 
The Lumberjacks started Lukas Swedin (Stockholm, SWE) (5-4-1-0) who made a couple of highlight reel saves included in his 23 total on 27 shots against, but suffers the loss on his record. Michael Chambre (8-3-1-1) stopped 25 of the 28 shots sent his way by the Jacks for the win.
 
The teams close out the weekend series tomorrow night at 6:05 pm CST (7:05 pm EST) at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center. Catch the action on the official live stream partner of the USHL, FloHockey, and on the Lumberjacks Hockey Network on Mixlr.
 
For schedules, scores, updates, and more visit muskegonlumberjacks.com and follow the Lumberjacks on social media @muskegonjacks.