MUSKEGON, MI – The energy was high from the get-go on Friday night at Trinity Health Arena as the Muskegon Lumberjacks (27-14-0-1, 55 pts.) welcomed the Chicago Steel (18-17-5-2, 43 pts.) for the third straight meeting between the two teams. Despite trailing 2-0 in the second period, the Jacks scored 5 straight goals to pick up a commanding 5-2 win.
 
It looked as if the teams were heading into the first intermission dead locked at 0-0, but a late goal from the Steel with just 23 seconds to play before the break helped the visitors take a 1-0 lead into the locker room. Jackson Crowder received the puck on the far end of the slot and ripped a shot to the back of the net for his 12^th goal of the season, 4^th in the last two games against the Lumberjacks.
 
Much of the game was dominated by the Lumberjacks who held a commanding lead on the shot chart from the start of the game all the way through the end. The first period saw the Jacks outshoot the Steel 12-5 with another lopsided total in the third frame 10-4. The second period was the most even of the three with an 11-9 shot total in favor of the Jacks.
 
The second period also saw both teams score a single goal in the frame. Chicago scored first at the 10:52 mark to take a 2-0 lead. Ryland Rooney got a pass in the low slot from Alexander Assadourian. Rooney carried the puck to the near side and slid it past an outstretched pad for his 10^th goal of the season.
 
With exactly one minute left in the period Carter Sanderson (Pierre, SD) got the scoring rolling for the Lumberjacks with his 11^th tally of the season. Carter Amico (Westbrook, ME) who is riding a 3-game point streak, sent a pass from the near side wall to Sanderson in the middle of the slot for a one-timer across the goal line.
 
The third period is where the Lumberjacks took over on the score sheet with four goals in the 20-minute frame. Branko Vukas (Dyer, IN) scored his first goal as a Lumberjack just 2:10 into the frame with a long shot from the blue line that bounced off a defenseman in front and past the goalie.
 
Each of the next two goals came off the stick of Viktor Norringer (Kungsbacka, SWE). First, at 3:24 while on a McKenzie Price Power Play, Norringer received a pass across the zone from Melvin Novotny (Stockholm, SWE) leading to another one-time goal for the Jacks to take a 1-0 lead.
 
Norringer added his second goal of the game at the 14:51 mark of the third period while leading a rush to the offensive zone. Rudolfs Berzkalns (Cesis, LAT) gave the puck to Norringer on the near side of the Chicago blue line sending the sniper into the offensive zone with enough time and space to get a good shot on goal. The shot off Norringer's stick made a beeline to the back of the net for his 15^th goal of the season.
 
Novotny added an empty net goal in the final moments of the game to add a second point on the night, and to give the Jacks a 5-2 win.
 
Carl Axelsson (Danderyd, SWE) (21-7-0-0) earned the win with 16 saves on 18 shots against. Louis-Felix Charrois (10-10-0-1) earned the loss with 4 goals allowed on 32 shots against.
 
Saturday night the Jacks close out the weekend series at Trinity Health Arena against the Steel at 6 p.m. Tickets are available at muskegonlumberjacks.com and the box office inside the Van Dyke Mortgage Convention Center. Catch the action on the official live stream partner of the USHL, FloHockey, and the Lumberjacks Hockey Network on Mixlr.