USHL Muskegon Lumberjacks

Phantoms Visit Trinity Health Arena for Final Time in '23-'24 Regular Season

February 8, 2024 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Muskegon Lumberjacks News Release


THE MATCHUP

The Muskegon Lumberjacks take on the Youngstown Phantoms for the third of 4 weekend series. The first three series have gone the way of the Jacks with a 3-1 record including a weekend sweep in late December at Trinity Health Arena including an 8-5, and 5-4 overtime win.

Muskegon has looked good over the past 10 games with a 7-3 record over that span. Starting with a split in Dubuque followed by a split at home against Fargo the Jacks then swept a weekend trip to Omaha before returning home and dropping 2 of 3 against the Buccaneers and Stars. Last weekend the Jacks picked up another weekend sweep, this time with a trip to Chicago and Madison with a game in each city.

Youngstown meanwhile has gone 5-3-1-1 over their last 10 games. They started with a shootout loss on the back end of a weekend sweep to Omaha at home followed by a road loss in Des Moines, and 1 win out of 3 games in Green Bay. The Phantoms then won 2 of 3 against the NTDP before picking up a weekend sweep at home over Cedar Rapids.

ABOUT LAST WEEKEND

A two-game road trip with stops in two different cities is more common for teams on the other side of Lake Michigan thanks to the closer proximity to other teams, but last weekend the Lumberjacks were treated to that trip with stops in Chicago and Madison. Despite playing two different teams on two different nights the games had very similar storylines. The Lumberjacks started slow on both nights and found themselves staring up at deficit at the end of the first period. Saturday night the slow start led to 3 goals for the Steel in the first 7 minutes of the game. The next 53 minutes were all Lumberjacks with 5 straight goals and a 17 save performance from Shikhabudtin Gadzhiev (Makhachkala, RUS) who entered in relief to help the comeback effort.

Sunday afternoon the Jacks and Caps traded goals in the first period, but Madison carried a 2-1 lead into the intermission. Again, the teams traded goals in the second, but the Jacks still trailed by one. The third period is when the tide changed with a goal from Sacha Boisvert (Trois-Rivieres, QC, CAN) just 28 seconds into the frame, and another two minutes later. Joe Connor (Amherst, NH) added an insurance goal, and the Jacks picked up a 5-4 win.

Thanks to his efforts on the weekend Gadzhiev was named the USHL Goalie of the Week with a 2.12 goals against average, and a .925 save percentage.

Youngstown found some success against the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders with a two-game weekend sweep at home at the Covelli Centre after dropping a game 5-3 to the NTDP-U18's. Ryan Botterill and Adam Pietila both scored twice in a 6-1 Friday night win while Grant Young picked up a hat trick in the Saturday night 5-3 victory.

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: JOE CONNOR

Heading into the 2023 NHL Draft the Lumberjacks were excited to hear the names of Gavin McCarthy, David Klee, and Ty Henricks called out. Those names did get called, but one that was left out of the mix was Joe Connor's.

A native of Amherst, NH, Connor spent the 2022-23 season at Avon Old Farms where he helped the Winged Beavers capture an Elite 8 Championship. At the end of the prep school campaign Connor reported to Muskegon where he played in 12 games with the Lumberjacks. His 6 points in 12 affiliate games along with his impressive stats were not enough to earn a selection in the draft if you ask many scouts, but what Connor has been able to accomplish this season has those very same scouts changing their minds.

Connor is one of only 4 Lumberjacks that are producing at over a point per game rate entering this weekend. The 2005 birth year was given a "W" in the NHL Central Scouting preliminary rankings. His impressive start to the season has earned him an upgrade to the #131 position in the mid-season ranks.

While there is no guarantee that anyone gets drafted Connor is leaving very little doubt in the minds of NHL front offices.

SETTING THE STAGE FOR THE SECOND HALF

Following this weekend the Lumberjacks will have less than 10 games left at home during the regular season. In fact, including this weekend there are only 22 more games left in the regular season. While teams need to ensure a strong finish to put themselves in a good spot for the playoffs it never hurts to take a look at what the playoff picture could look like. Currently tied for 2nd place in the Eastern Conference the Lumberjacks have 50 points and share their spot with the Green Bay Gamblers. Green Bay has 3 games in hand on the Lumberjacks, but a three-game series at the Resch Center to close February can be the deciding factor on who finishes above the other at the end of the season. Just one point behind the Jacks with 49 in 38 games are the Phantoms. Again, the Phantoms have 2 games in hand on the Lumberjacks, but with a pair of games this weekend, and a three-game weekend at the Covelli Centre in March the Jacks can stay ahead of Youngstown by winning the season series. Finally, the team that has been atop the East all season. The Dubuque Fighting Saints have one game in hand on the Jacks but come to Trinity Health Arena for two games in mid-March. Dubuque is only 5 points ahead of Muskegon in the standings.

Long story short, the more the Jacks win against these teams, the better off they'll be. Games against the top half of the Eastern Conference make up 8 of the 22 games remaining. Don't forget about the other games. Priority #1 is taking care of business every night. Muskegon is poised for a strong run into the 2024 Clark Cup Playoffs with hopes of capturing the organization's first every postseason title.

OVER THE AIRWAVES

Catch the action all season long with the USHL's official video streaming partner FloHockey, and with the free radio stream on the Lumberjacks Hockey Network on Mixlr.

UPCOMING GAMES

Fri. February 9 | 7:00 pm EST | vs Youngstown Phantoms

Sat. February 10 | 7:00 pm EST | vs Youngstown Phantoms

Fri. February 17 | 7:00 pm EST | vs USNTDP Under-17 Team

Sat. February 18 | 4:00 pm EST | at USNTDP Under-17 Team

Check out the Muskegon Lumberjacks Statistics



United States Hockey League Stories from February 8, 2024


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