YOUNGSTOWN, OH – After a tough start to the game, the Muskegon Lumberjacks (28-15-0-1, 57 pts.) dominated the second half of Friday night's contest against the Youngstown Phantoms (32-9-3-1, 68 pts.), ending with a +13 differential in shots, and an overtime win against their rival.
Looking at a 2-0 deficit on the scoreboard in the first intermission, the Jacks trailed due to self-inflicted wounds. Both Phantoms' goals came on power play opportunities. First, Jack Hextall gave his team a 1-0 lead 4:12 into the game. Just after the Jacks killed off a 5-on-3 advantage for the Phantoms, Evan Jardine was able to find the back of the net before the end of the second penalty and give Youngstown a 2-0 lead with eight minutes to play in the period.
The second period was much better for the Lumberjacks, who used a pair of special teams' goals to tie the game 2-2. Both goals came off the stick of
Drew Stewart (Minnetonka, MN). The first came at the 7:24 mark while on an Auto Owners Power Play when
Melvin Novotny (Stockholm, SWE) slid a pass across the slot to Stewart, leading to a snap shot to the back of the net.
Stewart then tied the game at the 8:49 mark, just under a minute and a half later, while the Jacks were killing off a penalty. With the Phantoms moving the puck across the top of the Lumberjacks' zone, Stewart deflected the puck into the neutral zone and worked down the ice on a breakaway. Stewart kept the puck on his forehand and tucked it past the outstretched pad of the goalie for his 21
st goal of the season.
A 13-4 shot total in the third period benefited the Lumberjacks, who saw both goalies stop all the shots they faced, sending the game to a sudden-death overtime. Four minutes and fifty-eight seconds into the five-minute period,
Chuck Blanchard (West Hartford, CT) carried the puck into the Youngstown zone and cut across the slot from the far side wall. On his way towards the goal line, Blanchard lifted a backhand shot over the goalie's blocker into the top corner of the net to give the Jacks a 3-2 win in the first game of the weekend.
Carl Axelsson (Danderyd, SWE) (22-8-0-0) earned the win on his record with 16 saves on 18 shots against. Tobias Trejbal (22-6-3-0) earned the loss on his record with 3 goals allowed on 31 shots against.
Saturday night, the Jacks and Phantoms go at it for the second of the three-game weekend series. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:05 pm EST at the Covelli Centre. Catch the action on FloHockey and the Lumberjacks Hockey Network on Mixlr.
