MUSKEGON, MI – The pedal is fully to the metal for the Muskegon Lumberjacks (6-0-0-0, 12 pts.) who on Saturday night defeated the Youngstown Phantoms (4-1-1-0, 9 pts.) 4-2 to earn the weekend series sweep and remain undefeated.
It's not about how you score goals, but rather how many goals you score, so when
Niles Benson (Tampa, FL) was the beneficiary of a fortuitous bounce to the back of the net he was all smiles. As he made his way into the offensive zone, Benson thought about sliding a pass to
Melvin Novotny (Stockholm, SWE) on the far side of the ice but opted to send the puck towards the net instead. The puck bounced off a Youngstown defenseman and between the legs of Vladimir Nikitin to give the Jacks a 1-0 lead twelve minutes into the game.
Youngstown responded five minutes later with a goal from Cooper Simpson to tie the game before the first intermission. Ryan Rucinski carried the puck down the middle of the Jacks' zone before his stick was lifted by
Carter Sanderson (Pierre, SD). Despite the strong effort from Sanderson on the backcheck, the puck landed on Simpson's stick for an easy opportunity to lift the puck into the top of the net.
Both teams struck in the second period with power-play goals. The Jacks found the net twice in the frame to carry a 3-2 lead back into the locker room. The first goal came at the 8:52 mark when
Drew Stewart (Minnetonka, MN) corralled a rebound on the near side of the crease and pulled it back to the front of the net, lifting it over Nikitin for his second goal of the season.
Novotny scored a power play goal at the 13:29 mark to make it 3-1 in favor of the Jacks. Working his way down the far side of the offensive zone, he had
Jack Christ (Chaska, MN) on the near side. Novotny outwaited Nikitin, who dropped to a butterfly, giving Novotny an opening at the top of the net.
Late in the period, Rucinski redirected a shot from Jack Hextall to the back of the net for a Phantom's power play goal with under two minutes to play in the period. Malachi McKinnon picked up the secondary assist for his USHL league-leading 8th point and extended his point streak to six games to start the season.
Christ put the icing on the cake and brought the brooms out for the Lumberjacks with an empty net goal, bringing the score to 4-2 late in regulation. With their goals, Christ and Novotny are tied with others around the league for second in the USHL with four each.
Will Keane (West Bloomfield, MI) (2-0-0-0) earned the win with 34 saves on 36 shots against. Vladimir Nikitin (0-1-0-0) earned the loss on his record with 16 saves on 19 shots.
Next week, the Jacks take on the USNTDP Under-17 in a home-and-home series. Friday night, the teams take to the ice at USA Hockey Arena before moving to the west side and Trinity Health Arena on Saturday. Catch the action on USAHockeyTV on Friday night and FloHockey on Saturday. Tickets for Saturday's game can be purchased at muskegonlumberjacks.com or by calling 231-799-7000.
