CHICAGO, IL – After falling hard on Friday Night, the Muskegon Lumberjacks (3-4-0-1, 7 pts.) started Saturday's game with momentum but eventually fell to the Chicago Steel (4-1-1-0, 9 pts.) after a heavy second-period goal output.
 
A 180 from Friday night's first period, the Lumberjacks scored two goals in the opening frame to take a 2-0 lead into the intermission. The first goal came 6:35 into the game off a set-piece play. Alex Smyth (Denver, CO) won a faceoff in the far circle of the Chicago zone to Will Distad (White Bear Lake, MN) at the blue line. Distad slid a pass to Teddy Lechner (Bloomington, MN) in the middle of the zone, where the Colorado Avalanche draft pick fired a shot along the ice. Anthony Thomas-Maroon (St. Louis, MO) deflected Lechner's shot and stopped it on the goalie's pad, then found the rebound and tucked it across the goal line.
 
Later in the frame at the 12:46 mark, the Jacks used an Auto Owners Power Play to add another goal to their first-period total. Maxim Šimko (Poprad, SVK) and Felix Färhammar (Stockholm, SWE) played a pass on the far side of the Chicago zone before Šimko slid the puck to Drew Fox (Hickory Creek, TX) in the corner. Fox looked to center a pass to the low slot, but after the puck bounced off the back of a defender, it landed right back onto his stick. Fox deposited the puck into the back of the nearly empty net for his 3^rd goal of the season, making it 2-0.
 
The Steel scored four straight in the second period to take a 4-2 lead. Matyas Svrcek scored the first at the 5:20 mark by cleaning up a rebound on the far side of the slot. Joe Erickson and Leland Dulac picked up the assists on the play. Then, at the 9:24 mark, Patrick Tolan cashed in on assists from Cade Strom and Dallas Vieau.
 
Nolan Shorter made it 3-2 four minutes later by sneaking a one-timer just inside the near post after Camillo Milani passed him the puck from behind the net. A minute and 41 seconds later, the Steel added their fourth goal of the period. Erickson cleaned up a rebound at the side of the Jacks' goal.
 
It was a grim feeling for the Lumberjacks, who opened the period with a 2-0 lead, but the immediate shift following the fourth Steel goal brought the vibe back up and the score back to within a single goal. Billy MacAsusland (Westwood, MA) and Louis Jonerheim (Lund, SWE) worked together to get the puck to the net front area, where Šimko pushed it across the goal line for his second goal of the season.
 
Just 36 seconds into the third period, the Lumberjacks tied the game 4-4. Zaac Charbonneau (Gatineau, QC, CAN) carried the puck into the offensive zone on the far side of the ice and dragged a Chicago defenseman with him. Rudolfs Berzkalns (Cesis, LAT) brought a defenseman towards the goal, allowing Gustas Zemaitis (Barrington, IL) an open lane from the middle of the slot. Charbonneau slid the puck back to Zemaitis, who went to the top near corner for his first goal of the season.
 
The eventual game-winner came six minutes later when a turnover deep in the Muskegon zone allowed MJ Campbell to tuck the puck across the goal line from the near side of the net for his second goal of the season.
 
Samuel Doyon-Cataquiz (Montreal, QC, CAN) (1-2-0-1) earned the loss on his record with 26 saves on 31 shots against. Alex Wang (1-0-1-0) earned his first career USHL win with 12 saves on 13 shots after entering in relief of an injured Stepan Houdek.
 
The Jacks return home to Trinity Health Arena Friday and Saturday for two games against the Youngstown Phantoms. Catch the USHL's fiercest rivalry, and get your tickets at Muskegonlumberjacks.com or call 231-799-7000.