Muskegon Lumberjacks' Offense Goes Cold in a 3-1 Loss in Madison

February 11, 2023 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Muskegon Lumberjacks News Release

If the Muskegon Lumberjacks are ever going to rise above the .500 mark and get solidly back in the playoff picture, they will have to start stringing together some two-win weekends.

That's something they haven't done since Nov. 25-26, when they took two games from the Madison Capitols.

The Jacks had a great chance to end that cold streak on Saturday night when they faced the last-place Capitols again in the second of a two-game weekend series. They beat Madison on Friday with a seven-goal performance and seemed primed to complete the sweep.

But the offense that dominated on Friday disappeared on Saturday, and the Jacks fell 3-1 to the Capitols at the Bob Suter Capitol Ice Arena in Wisconsin.

The Lumberjacks fell to 18-20-2 on the season while Madison improved to 10-28-2.

The Jacks will host Green Bay in a pair of games next weekend.

Madison's Andrew Kuzma scored the only goal of the first period at the 17:58 mark.

Muskegon tied the game just 1:08 into the second period on a goal by Niko Rexine, who now has eight on the season. Sacha Boisvert and Matthew Morden assisted on the tally.

The Capitols broke the tie at 16:04 of the second period with a goal by Ethan Elias, then secured the win with an empty-net goal by Jordan Gudridge at 18:04 of the third.

Muskegon goalie Conor Callaghan took the hard-luck loss while stopping 32 of 34 shots. The Jacks had a 36-35 advantage in shots on goal.

The Lumberjacks continued their strong play on the penalty kill, keeping the Capitols scoreless in five power play opportunities.

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United States Hockey League Stories from February 11, 2023

• Celebrini Notches Hat Trick, Five-Point Game, in 7-4 Win - Chicago Steel
• Muskegon Lumberjacks' Offense Goes Cold in a 3-1 Loss in Madison - Muskegon Lumberjacks
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• Gamblers Win Overtime Thriller with Third Period Comeback - Green Bay Gamblers
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