PLYMOUTH, MI – Wednesday morning the Muskegon Lumberjacks (16-6-2-1, 35 pts.) took on the USA Hockey National Team Development Program's Under-18 Team (6-13-1-0, 13 pts.) as part of the Kids Day Game at USA Hockey Arena. The tightly contested game went the way of the NTDP 3-1.
The Program took a 2-0 lead in the first period thanks to a pair of goals including one on the power play. At 15:53 of the first the NTDP found themselves on an advantage for the first time and sent out five forwards to up the pressure in the Jacks zone. Jack Murtagh sent the puck to the near side wall for LJ Mooney who fired it towards the net. Despite the initial save being made the rebound on the back door was in the perfect position for Cole McKinney to tap to the back of the net.
Then, three minutes later the Program struck again while at even strength. Richard Gallant carried the puck into the offensive zone in the middle of the ice while leading a 3-on-2 rush. With both pass options covered Gallant chose to shoot and ripped a shot off the cross bar and into the back of the net for his 3
rd goal of the USHL season.
In the second period the Jacks picked up a power play goal of their own. About halfway through the frame
Jack Galanek (Hopkinton, MA) sent the puck to the far side of the ice for
David Deputy (Gurnee, IL) as he entered the NTDP zone. Deputy used his speed to create a 2-on-1 rush with
Teddy Spitznagel (Bloomfield Hills, MI) on the near side of the slot. At the faceoff dot Deputy slid a pass to Spitznagel allowing for an easy tap in goal to cut the deficit in half.
Only one goal came in the third period for the NTDP to pick up the eventual winning score of 3-1. With a delayed penalty against the Lumberjacks the puck popped to the top of their zone where Maceo Phillips kept it in. Phillips waited a beat before firing a shot into the sea of bodies between him and the goal. Somehow the puck made its way through all of the bodies and to the back of the net with 4:33 to go in regulation.
A late effort from the Jacks to comeback fell short when a pair of penalties in the final minute led the Jacks to finish the game while killing a 5-on-3 penalty essentially killing the comeback effort.
Shikhabutdin Gadzhiev (Makhachkala, RUS) (9-4-1-0) made 39 saves on 42 shots as one of the bright spots for Muskegon in the game. Patrick Quinlan earned the win with 15 saves on 16 shots against, but was replaced by Joey Slavick halfway through the game due to an injury.
Next up for the Jacks is a trip to Madison, WI for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday night against the Capitols. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:05 pm ET on both nights at the Bob Suter's Legacy20 Arena Middleton. For broadcast information and more visit muskegonlumberjacks.com.
