MUSKEGON, MI – Taking care of business on home ice is key #1 for a successful season, something the Muskegon Lumberjacks (3-2-0-1, 7 pts.) have done well during their recent dominance over the USHL. Saturday night's contest against the Madison Capitols (1-3-0-0, 2 pts.) ended in a shootout loss for the Lumberjacks, who still earned 3 of 4 points on the weekend.
A McKenzie Price Power Play helped the Lumberjacks open the scoring in the first period, eight and a half minutes after the opening puck drop.
Rudolfs Berzkalns (Cesis, LAT) won a faceoff on the far side of the ice and floated to the near wall while
Lars Hutson (North Barrington, IL) and
Felix Färhammar (Stockholm, SWE) played pass at the top of the zone. Färhammar slid a pass down to Berzkalns in the near circle, opening a passing lane for the Lumberjacks captain to find
Zaac Charbonneau (Gatineau, QC, CAN) on the back post. Charbonneau's initial attempt was turned aside, but he followed up and pushed the puck across the goal line for his first of a two-goal performance.
Just before the end of the first period, the Caps found the back of the net to tie the game 1-1. Logan Lutner carried the puck into the offensive zone and sent it from the near wall toward the front of the net, looking to find Eero Butella. Instead of reaching the intended receiver, the puck bounced off a Lumberjacks defender into the back of the net, tying the game.
From there, the Capitols tied the game within 90 seconds of the Lumberjacks scoring. First, 2:53 into the second period, a misplay from the Capitols' goalie allowed
Gustas Zemaitis (Barrington, IL) to win possession of the puck inside the Madison zone. Zemaitis got the puck in the near corner and slid it to
Strider Carhart (Sea Girt, NJ) in the low slot for an easy goal into a nearly empty net.
57 seconds later, Lutner scored his second goal of the game. Gustavs Griva fired a shot from the far side of the Jacks zone that missed the net, but bounced off the back boards straight to Lutner on the near side of the slot. The Madison defenseman fired a shot just over the pad of the Jacks goalie, tying it 2-2.
The same story came in the third period for the Lumberjacks. After a successful penalty kill sent Charbonneau out of the box mid-play, the 2010-born player found himself on a breakaway. He snuck the puck between the goalie's legs for his second goal of the game, 6
th of the season. Charbonneau leads all USHL rookies in goals and points with 9 total in just 6 games played. He is tied for 2
nd in the USHL in goals and 4
th in points.
Madison's response came in the form of a goal from Landon MacSwain. Another quirky goal, this one came off MacSwain's skate after Colin Yandle made a cross-slot pass on a rush into the Muskegon zone. Quirky or not, the goal forced overtime, then a shootout to find a winner.
Bryce Wiitala and Bode McConnell scored two goals in the shootout for the Capitols while the Jacks went scoreless, giving Madison their first points of the season.
Samuel Doyon-Cataquiz (Montreal, QC, CAN) (1-1-0-1) was good in the crease for the Jacks with 34 saves on 37 shots against. Elliot Lennon (1-1-0-0) allowed 3 goals on 29 shots for the Capitols.
Next week, the Jacks travel to USG Arena in downtown Chicago, IL, for a weekend set of games against the Chicago Steel. Catch the action on FloHockey and the Lumberjacks Hockey Network presented by Gray Supply Corp. For game times and more information, visit muskegonlumberjacks.com.
