MUSKEGON – For the first time in the 2023-2024 regular season the Muskegon Lumberjacks (2-1, 4 pts) took to the ice at Trinity Health Arena for a 10:30 am puck drop against the USA Hockey National Team Development Program's Under-18 team (2-1, 4 pts). In front of a near capacity crowd the Jacks were lifted to a 6-3 win thanks to a pair of goals from both Sacha Boisvert (Trois-Rivieres, QC, CAN) and Matvei Gridin (Kurgan, RUS).
 
Scoring was opened less than a minute into the contest when NHL top prospect Cole Eiserman found the back of the net on an NTDP powe rplay at the 49 second mark. The USA lead didn't last long with Muskegon evening the score just 3:28 later. Joe Connor (Amherst, NH) fired a shot on net and found his own rebound below the goal line in the far side corner. Connor exposed an open seam pass by finding Jack Sparkes (Ottawa, ON, CAN) on the near side of the blue line. The 6'8 defenseman fired a laser beam of a slap shot back towards the far side and into the top corner of the net for his first goal of the season.
 
Just over a minute later Muskegon doubled up with a goal from Boisvert. Justin Solovey (Holmdel, NJ) carried the puck into the offensive zone over the near side of the blue line and tapped it ahead for Boisvert. While falling to the ice Boisvert moved the puck from his backhand to his forehand before lifting a shot into the back of the net.
 
Gridin then scored two straight goals before the end of the period to help the Jacks to a 4-1 lead at the intermission. First, at the 12:23 mark Owen Keefe (Saugus, MA) sent a shot on net from the blue line that caught a piece of Gridin on a drive by screen.
 
Then, with just over 4 minutes left in the frame Gridin added another while on the power play. Connor gave Gridin the puck in the far side corner, and from the side of the net on an impossible angle Gridin lifted the puck into the back of the net for his second goal of the game, 5^th of the season. His two points in the game gives him a sole possession of the USHL league lead in points with 7.
 
The NTDP scored twice to start the second period and bring the game back to within a one goal deficit. Austin Baker scored first at the 8:53 mark on an assist from Cole Hutson while James Hagens finished a rebound produced by a shot from Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen at the 9:56 mark.
 
Muskegon responded in a big way by scoring a pair of goals for themselves.  Ethan Whitcomb (St. Catherines, ON, CAN) found the back of the net while rushing into the offensive zone with 4:45 remaining in the frame. Sam Spehar (Chaska, MN) picked up the assist for his first career USHL point.
 
Boisvert scored his second goal of the game from the middle of the slot on a power play with just 1:32 left in the middle stanza. David Klee (Castle Rock, CO), and Hunter Anderson (Manhattan Beach, CA) picked up the assists on the goal.
 
Making his USHL debut Lukas Swedin (Stockholm, SWE) (1-0) started the game for Muskegon and earned the win by stopping 34 of the 37 shots sent his way. Nick Kempf (1-1) earned his first loss of the season despite a strong effort facing 44 shots from the Muskegon offense.
 
Next up for the Jacks is a road trip to Geneva, IL for a matchup against the Chicago Steel. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:05 CDT (7:05 EDT) at the Fox Valley Ice Arena on Saturday, September 30, 2023.
 
You can catch the game on the official live stream partner of the USHL FloHockey, and on the Lumberjacks Hockey Network on Mixlr. Follow the Jacks on social media @MuskegonJacks for game updates and more!