MUSKEGON, MI – Entering Saturday with 6 goals and outside the top 5 in the USHL leaderboard, Zaac Charbonneau (Gatineau, QC, CAN) added goals 7,8, and 9 of the season to lead the Muskegon Lumberjacks (4-4-0-2, 11 pts.) to a 5-3 win over the Youngstown Phantoms (3-6-0-0, 6 pts.) and a share of the top spot in the league.
 
Charbonneau opened the scoring in the first period with a McKenzie Price power-play goal. A clean zone entry saw Felix Färhammar (Stockholm, SWE) hold possession at the top of the Youngstown zone. Färhammar slid a pass to the far side for Rudolfs Berzkalns (Cesis, LAT) on the half wall. Berzkalns followed by sending a pass across the middle seam of the slot to Charbonneau on the near side for a one-time blast to the back of the net.
 
Just 16 seconds later, the Phantoms tied the game. Brody Berard fired a shot from the far side of the Muskegon blue line that evaded the bodies in the low slot on it's way across the goal line.
 
The Lumberjacks scored two goals in the second period, starting with a second power-play tally at the 7:04 mark. Färhammar shot a puck from the top of the zone that went off of Nick Kosiba (New Boston, MI) at the top of the crease. Parked on the far side of the net, Maxim Šimko (Poprad, SVK) was the beneficiary of a bouncing puck and a goalie off his edges. Šimko slid the puck through the five-hole for his 3^rd goal of the season.
 
Another five-hole goal for the Lumberjacks came three minutes later for Charbonneau's second of the game. Louis Jonerheim (Lund, SWE) sprung Charbonneau onto a breakaway with a pass past the defense. Charbonneau slid the puck along the ice to give the Jacks a 3-1 lead heading into the second intermission.
 
In the third period, the Phantoms fell behind by one goal just 3:16 into the frame, but that was the closest their comeback would get. Lukas Zajic scored his second goal of the weekend, assisted by Jack Hair and Malachi McKinnon.
 
From there, the Jacks scored two goals to pull away from the Phantoms. Anthony Thomas-Maroon (St. Louis, MO) led a 2-on-0 rush with Šimko in the Youngstown zone and slid the puck across the low slot to Šimko, who buried a shot into the nearly empty net for his second goal of the game, making it 4-2.
 
With the Youngstown net empty, Lars Huston (North Barrington, IL) and Gustas Zemaitis (Barrington, IL) worked together to clear the defensive zone and find Charbonneau with space in the neutral zone. Charbonneau stepped across the blue line and put the puck in the empty net for his first career USHL hat trick and a 5-2 Lumberjacks lead.
 
Oscar Westman (Stockholm, SWE) (3-2-0-1) was fantastic for the Lumberjacks, stopping 31 of 33 shots. Nikita Oleksiienko (0-3-0-0) continues to search for his first win of the season, with 4 goals allowed on 30 shots against.
 
Next week, the Jacks fly to Lincoln, NE, for a pair of games against the Stars. For game times, broadcast information, and more, visit Muskegonlumberjacks.com.