MUSKEGON, MI – The trend as of late has been come back efforts for the Muskegon Lumberjacks (27-15-0-1, 55 pts.) who were losing 3-0 to the Chicago Steel (19-17-5-2, 45 pts.) before the halfway point of the first period on Saturday night. Despite the lackluster start, the Jacks dominated the rest of the way but were unable to crawl out of the hole falling 4-2 in the end.
 
On just their second shot of the game, Chicago took a 2-0 lead on a quirky play. Alexander Assadourian led a 2-on-1 rush into the Lumberjacks zone up the near side of the ice. Looking to pass the puck across the slot, Assadourian fired a pass that bounced off a Lumberjacks skate and into the back of the net. The defender played the situation perfectly, but still the Steel took a 1-0 lead.
 
Nearly three minutes later at the 4:54 mark the Steel doubled up with another quirky goal. Marco Senercia fired a shot from the middle of the blue line. Normally a routine save for a USHL caliber goalie, the puck made it's way through a pair of bodies in the slot and passed the unsuspecting Carl Axelsson (Danderyd, SWE).
 
The 8:55 mark brought the third Chicago goal off another unlucky bounce for the Jacks. Brady Kudrick carried the puck between a pair of Lumberjacks defenders into the offensive zone and curled towards the near side of the ice. A shot off the far pad of Axelsson produced a rebound in the low slot. A Lumberjack was ready and waiting for the puck which popped off his stick straight to Benson Grande for an easy goal on the far side of the slot.
 
Coming out of the second media timeout of the first period the Lumberjacks turned up the pressure. Despite trailing in shots 7-3 at the time of the third goal, the Jacks finished the game with a 37-18 lead in the category.
 
Viktor Norringer (Kungsbacka, SWE) started the comeback effort with a goal at the 15:40 mark of the first period. Melvin Novotny (Stockholm, SWE) held the puck on the near side of the slot and slid it across the ice to Norringer for a one-time blast to the back of the net. The goal was Norringer's 3^rd of the weekend, 16^th of the season. The assist from Novotny extends his point streak to 5 games (2-5-7) since coming back from the injured reserve.
 
In the second period the Jacks scored again to bring the score to within a single goal at 3-2 with 30 minutes left in the game. Carter Amico (Westbrook, ME) sent the puck behind the Chicago net where Drew Stewart (Minnetonka, MN) picked up possession. Stewart popped a pass out to Niles Benson (Tampa, FL) allowing the sniper to pick a corner as the goalie attempted to get set in his crease.
 
Only one goal came in the third period, and it was an empty netter for the Steel to put the icing on the cake. Luke Goukler took possession of the puck in the neutral zone and deposited it into the empty net for his 9^th goal of the season.
 
Axelsson (21-8-0-0) earned the loss on his record with 14 saves on 17 shots against. Veeti Louhivaara (5-2-3-0) played out of his mind stopping 35 of the 37 shots he faced in the winning effort.
 
Next week, the Lumberjacks visit the Youngstown Phantoms for three games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, OH. Catch the action on FloHockey and the Lumberjacks Hockey Network on Mixlr.