CHICAGO, IL – The first game of the USHL regular season saw the Muskegon Lumberjacks (0-1-0-0, 0 pts.) open the action against the Des Moines Buccaneers (1-0-0-0, 2 pts.) at the brand-new USG Arena in downtown Chicago. Despite a lopsided shot total in favor of the Lumberjacks, the Buccaneers skated away with the first win of the season.
By the end of the first period, the Jacks held a 12-6 shot advantage but trailed 1-0. In the final two minutes of the frame, the Bucs opened the scoring with a back-door tap-in from Jakub Dubravik. A turnover in the Muskegon zone sent Chris Pinko towards the goal on a short 2-on-0 rush alongside Dubravik. Pinko slid a pass across the crease to Dubravik, leading to the season-opening goal.
The Buccaneers scored again in the second period, just 4:03 in. Riley Zupfer held the puck on the far side of the Lumberjacks zone and slid a pass across the slot to defenseman Becker Wenkus at the top of the near circle. Wenkus placed a shot just under the goalie's blocker for his first goal of the season.
Looking to come back, the Jacks cut the deficit to one with a goal 3:11 into the third period.
Strider Carhart (Sea Girt, NJ) sent a pass to the far end of the Des Moines blue line, where
Billy MacAusland (Westwood, MA) carried it into the offensive zone. MacAusland avoided a check and centered a pass to
Aiden Janz (Northville, MI) behind the Buccaneer defense. Despite taking a slash to the hands, Janz chipped the puck over the goalie's pad to score the Jacks' only goal of the game.
Two goals, one shorthanded and one into an empty net, helped the Buccaneers build their 4-1 win. Joey Argentina shook off a Lumberjack body check while leading a shorthanded rush into the offensive zone. Argentina lifted the puck into the top corner of the net for his first goal, the second point of the game, with 4:30 to play.
Mason Jenson deposited the puck into an empty net to put the finishing touches on the game with 90 seconds to play in regulation, giving the Buccaneers their first win of the season.
Oscar Westman (Stockholm, SWE) (0-1-0-0) stopped 22 of the 25 shots sent his way. Jon Kavcic (1-0-0-0) earned his first win of the season with 32 saves on 33 shots faced in the crease for Des Moines.
Thursday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. ET (3:30 p.m. CT), the Jacks close their two-game set at the Fall Classic against the Waterloo Black Hawks. Catch the action on FloHockey or for free on the Lumberjacks Hockey Network radio broadcast presented by Gray Supply Corp.
