SIOUX CITY, IA – A full team effort on Friday night helped the Muskegon Lumberjacks (10-3-2-1, 23 pts.) continue their hot streak with a 3-2 shootout win over the Sioux City Musketeers (8-6-0-2, 18 pts.), but Shikhabutdin Gadzhiev (Makhachkala, RUS) and Drew Stewart (Minnetonka, MN) led the charge in the win.
 
It took a while for the scoring to open between the two teams. It wasn't until the 36 minute mark of the game (16:16, 2^nd) that the Jacks struck to make it 1-0. Stewart held the puck in the offensive zone and dropped a pass off in the slot for Rudolfs Berzkalns (Cesis, LAT). Moving from the right to the left across the top of the crease Berzkalns slid the puck back to the right side of the crease for Davis Borozinskis (Liepaja, LAT) who was standing at the back door post. Borozinskis chipped the puck past the out stretched netminder for his fifth goal of the season.
 
Just 2:15 into the third period, the Jacks scored again to make it 2-0. Stewart was again involved after taking possession of the puck at the top of the offensive zone. As he moved towards the blue line Stewart dropped a pass for Xavier Veilleux (L'Ancienne-Lorrette, QC, CAN) on the far side of the slot. Veilleux ripped a shot over the goalies shoulder for his second goal of the season, and to give the Jacks a bit of breathing room.
 
A while passed between goals, and it felt as if the Jacks were well on their way to the regulation win, but a pair of goals in the final moments for the Musketeers forced overtime. First, Giacomo Martino and Landon Gunderson combined for a goal to extend their USHL leading point totals to 21. Gunderson fired a shot off the pad of Gadzhiev producing a juicy rebound for Martino on the near side.
 
Then, with just 1:09 to play Olivers Murnieks intercepted a break out pass from the Lumberjacks and slid the puck down towards the goal line for Nikita Klepov. After waiting a moment Klepov returned the puck to Murnieks who used a quick release to tie the game and send it to over time.
 
Both teams had grade A scoring chances in overtime, but it was the goalies that stood tall. In the end Gadzhiev (5-2-1-0) earned the win with 21 saves on 23 shots sent his way. Bjorn Bronas (1-2-0-2) earned the shootout loss on his record despite making 25 saves on 27 shots fired by the Jacks.
 
In the shootout Chase Stefanek (Yorba Linda, CA) scored as the first shooter, but was met by a response from Klepov to make it 1-1 after the first round. Matthew Van Blaricom (Southey, SK, CAN) scored in the top of the second before Gadzhiev stopped Murnieks to make it 2-1 Jacks heading to the third. Tynan Lawrence (Fredericton, NB, CAN) wasn't able to end the game in the top of the third, but another save by Gadzhiev this time on Martino gave the Jacks the 3-2 win.
 
The teams close out the two game weekend series tomorrow, Saturday, November 15^th at 7:05 pm ET at the Tyson Events Center. Broadcast and game information can be found at muskegonlumberjacks.com.