NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



 Muskegon Lumberjacks

Lumberjacks Calm the Storm with Christian Wolanin's Shootout Winner

November 8, 2014 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Muskegon Lumberjacks News Release


KEARNEY, Nebraska "" It was a playoff-like atmosphere in the two games this weekend between the Muskegon Lumberjacks and Tri-City Storm at the Viaero Event Center as both games needed a shootout to decide the winner. Like last night, the Lumberjacks' power play unit carried the offensive workload netting both goals during regulation and were able to exact shootout revenge on their Western Conference counterparts. In the end, Christian Wolanin's fifth round game-winner helped the Lumberjacks earn two points in the standings with a 2-1 shootout victory and 3-2 overall win on the road.

The first period saw a scoreless draw for the majority until the Lumberjacks (9-4-1, 19 points) took advantage of their first power play opportunity of the night to snag the game's first goal and take an early 1-0 lead with 3:54 left as Robbie DeMontis ripped a shot from the left faceoff circle top shelf on the short side over the right shoulder of Alec Dillon (7-2-2) that was set up by Christian Wolanin and Matheson Iacopelli.

Muskegon took their one goal lead into the first intermission with Tri-City claiming the shot battle by 19-9 spread.

Early in the second at the 1:42 mark, the Storm (7-3-3, 17 points) found the equalizer tying the game at 1-1 as a point shot by Mattias Goransson found its way through Eric Schierhorn's (8-3-1) five-hole and into the back of the net for his third of the season that was helped by Cody Milan and Mason Appleton.

As the middle frame neared its midway point, Tri-City snagged its first lead of the night at 2-1 by the 9:06 mark with Kevin Kerr feeding Jake Wahlin on the backdoor, and the St. Cloud State commit roofed one from the right faceoff circle over the glove of Schierhorn on the short side for his second marker of the year.

The home squad took their one goal lead into the second intermission while outshooting the visitors during the middle 20 minutes of regulation by a 12-7 margin. Overall, Tri-City was nearly doubling up Muskegon on the shot chart, 31-16.

Near the halfway point of the third period, the Lumberjacks went back to work on the power play and tied the game at 2-2 with 10:35 to go as DeMontis centered a feed to Griffen Molino in the slot, and the Western Michigan commit batted the puck out of midair and past Dillon for his fifth goal of the season that was also helped by Wolanin.

Like last night, the tie game remained through the end of regulation leading to an overtime session for the second consecutive night. Muskegon outshot Tri-City in the third period, 13-7.

The overtime session featured another scoreless draw in which the Lumberjacks killed off a 1:20 four-on-three power play opportunity by the Storm early in the extra session. The hosts outshot the visitors during the overtime frame, 4-2, and won the shot battle overall by a 42-31 spread.

During the skills competition, David Keefer scored first for Muskegon, but it was immediately countered with a first round marker from Chris Wilkie. The next three rounds saw no goals tallied until Wolanin potted a fifth round marker to give the Lumberjacks a 2-1 lead. The next shooter was Bobby Nardella for Tri-City, but his wrist shoot carried over the crossbar giving Muskegon the extra point on the night.

Eric Schierhorn picks up the victory stopping 40 shots in regulation and overtime combined, while Alec Dillon takes the shootout loss with 29 saves of his own. The Lumberjacks' offensive attack was led by Robbie DeMontis (one goal, one assist) and Christian Wolanin (two assists) with two points each. Five Storm players recorded a point offensively. Muskegon improves to 5-1-2 all-time against Tri-City including a 4-0-2 mark at the Viaero Event Center.

Muskegon returns home next Saturday, November 15th to take on the expansion Bloomington Thunder at 7:15 pm. To purchase tickets and take advantage of our discounted advance game day prices, fans can stop by the L.C. Walker Arena Box Office during the normal business hours of 10:00 am "" 6:00 pm on Monday "" Friday or call (231) 724-5225.

The Lumberjacks are back on the radio waves as Nash Icon 92.5 FM is the team's flagship provider for the 2014-15 season. Tune in as the "Voice of the Lumberjacks" Bryan Fongers delivers the call beginning 15 minutes prior to the opening puck drop. All games can also be listened and watched live online at www.fasthockey.com.


• Discuss this story on the United States Hockey League message board...

United States Hockey League Stories from November 8, 2014


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central