MUSKEGON, MI – The game was close for the first 40 minutes, but the Muskegon Lumberjacks (31-19-1-1, 64 pts.) were never able to find the back of the net on Friday enroute to a 5-0 loss at the hands of the Dubuque Fighting Saints (33-12-3-3, 72 pts.)
A pretty passing play with five minutes left in the first period is how Dubuque broke the scoreless tie. Recent Acquisition Beckett Hendrickson sent the puck from the far corner to the net front area for Erik Pahlsson. The Swedish born forward tapped a pass backdoor to Juraj Pekarcik who returned it to Pahlsson back on the far side of the crease. Pahlsson had the whole net to shoot at for the 1-0 Fighting Saints lead.
The second period featured numerous big saves for Jacks netminder
Shikhabudtin Gadzhiev (Makhachkala, RUS), but relentless pressure from the Fighting Saints would eventually lead to their second goal of the game with just 19 seconds to play in the middle stanza.
Fresh out of the penalty box Jake Sondreal carried the puck towards the middle of the ice leading a 2-on-1 rush into the offensive zone. Sondreal sent the puck to the nearside and Noah Powell who walked in a ripped a shot over the shoulder of Gadzhiev into the short side high corner.
Everything fell apart for the Lumberjacks in the third period. Dubuque extended their lead 6 minutes into the period when Lucas St. Louis ripped a one-timer to the back of the net while on a power play.
Noah Powell then scored a pair of goals to earn his second career hat trick (2.2.24 vs CHI). His first goal of the period came at the 9:43 when he scored his second 2-on-1 rush goal of the game. This time he lead the rush and fired a shot through the five hole. An empty netter with under a minute to play gave him his third of the night.
Gadzhiev (11-6-0-0) earned the loss with 34 saves on 40 shots against. Dylan Johnson (3-3-1-0) earned the win with his first career shutout in the USHL making 25 saves in the process.
The Jacks and Saints close the weekend series tomorrow night at Trinity Health Arena. The game can be found on the official live stream partner of the USHL, FloHockey, and for free on the Lumberjacks Hockey Network on Mixlr.
For schedules, scores, updates, and more visit muskegonlumberjacks.com. Check out the Jacks on social media @muskegonjacks on Instagram and X, @muskegonlumberjacks on TikTok for special content!
