MUSKEGON, MI – After a thrilling 6-1 win on Friday night, the fans inside Trinity Health Arena and tuning in on FloHockey were treated to a goaltending duel on Saturday between the Muskegon Lumberjacks (13-2-0-0, 26 pts.) and Des Moines Buccaneers (6-5-2-3, 17 pts.). Carl Axelsson (Danderyd, SWE) was spectacular in the crease for the Jacks, helping the team to a 3-1 win.
 
The goalies were perfect in the opening period of play to the tune of 10 saves for Axelsson and 9 on the other side of the ice for Andrew Bely. The second period brought a different story with both teams finding the back of the net. The Lumberjacks did so twice to take a 2-1 lead into the second intermission.
 
Riding an unbelievable hot streak, Melvin Novotny (Stockholm, SWE) has at least one point in each of his last 8 games with a total of 13 points in that span. He opened the scoring 2:06 into the second period with a power play goal to make it 1-0 in favor of the Lumberjacks. Niles Benson (Tampa, FL) had the puck on the near side of the ice, giving it to Jake Stuart (Manhattan Beach, CA) in the middle of the slot. As he made his way down the middle of the ice, Stuart thought about shooting the puck, but at the last second sent a pass to the far side of the ice for Novotny to hammer across the goal line for his 9^th goal of the season.
 
Just over a minute later, the Jacks added another goal. Benson got a pass on the far side wall at his own blue line from Jean-Samuel Daigneault (Saint-Michel, QC, CAN). Feeling the pressure of a Des Moines defenseman, Benson tapped the puck towards the middle of the ice for Chuck Blanchard (West Hartford, CT) to pick up on his way through the neutral zone. Blanchard used Novotny as a decoy while on a 2-on-1 rush, allowing him to beat Bely under the glove for his 3^rd goal of the season.
 
With his two assists, Benson extended his point streak to 5 games and picked up his 4^th multi-point game of the season.
 
Moments later, Des Moines scored a power play goal of their own to cut the deficit back down to a single goal. Riley Zupfer carried the puck up the far side of the ice and tapped a pass to Ryan Seelinger behind the Lumberjacks defense. Seelinger worked towards the net and tucked the puck between Axelsson's legs for his 8^th goal of the season.
 
Blanchard put the icing on the cake for the Lumberjacks with an empty net goal in the final 90 seconds of regulation. His goal gave the Jacks back their two-goal lead and shut the door on the Buccaneers' comeback effort.
 
Axelsson (9-1-0-0) picked up his USHL-leading 9^th win of the season with 28 saves on 29 shots against. He now sits in 2^nd in the league in both goals against average (2.00) and save percentage (.929). Andrew Bely (0-1-0-1) earned the first regulation loss of his USHL career, but played well with 25 saves on 27 shots against.
 
Tomorrow afternoon, the Lumberjacks finish the three-game weekend at Trinity Health Arena with a 3 p.m. date against the Chicago Steel. Tickets are available for $15 at muskegonlumberjacks.com and at the box office located inside the VanDyke Mortgage Convention Center. Catch the action on the official live stream partner of the Lumberjacks, FloHockey or for free on the Lumberjacks Hockey Network on Mixlr.