Steel Axe Lumberjacks 6-2
January 22, 2018 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Chicago Steel News Release
GENEVA, ILLINOIS - Linemates Blake McLaughlin (2+0), Baker Shore (2+0) and Jack Dugan (0+3) combined for seven points Friday as the Chicago Steel (16-11-1-2, 35 pts.) skated to a 6-2 victory over the Muskegon Lumberjacks (15-14-1-1, 32 pts.) Friday at Fox Valley Ice Arena.
The Steel have now won three home games in a row, tallying at least six goals in each effort. Derek Daschke (1+1), Robert Mastrosimone (1+1) and Aaro Vidgren (0+2) also recorded multi-point outings. Oskar Autio stopped 20 shots for his 14th win of the season.
Each team scored on their first shot of the game. First, it was Muskegon defenseman Marc Del Gaizo firing a one-timer from the center point off a faceoff win by Mikael Hakkarainen. The goal came 1:54 into the game, and just two seconds into the Lumberjacks' first power play opportunity of the night.
The Steel responded just 31 seconds later when Mastrosimone found a bouncing puck, spun and fired it past Muskegon netminder Keegan Karki to tie the game. Chicago's Shore then scored a goal from the low slot off a feed from Dugan in the left corner at 12:05.
Daschke added a power play marker at the 14:13 mark, firing the puck through traffic, sending Chicago into the intermission with a 3-1 lead.
In the opening minute of the second period, McLaughlin released a shot from the top of the left circle past Karki's blocker to notch a power play goal. Shore then added Chicago's fifth unanswered goal, an unassisted breakaway five-hole tally at 11:48, ending Karki's night. Zach Borgiel made his USHL debut in relief.
Hakkarainen notched a power-play goal for the Lumberjacks at 6:03 of the third period, sniping a shot from the bottom of the right circle into the upper corner. McLaughlin then closed the night's scoring, deflecting Daschke's shot from the left point at 17:57.
The Steel went 1-for-6 on the power play while Muskegon was 2-for-5. Dugan, McLaughlin and Shore are now tied for the Steel goal-scoring lead with 16 each. Dugan now leads the USHL with 37 points on the season.
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