MUSKEGON – There’s something about the Chicago Steel that obviously brings out the best in the Muskegon Lumberjacks.

The Jacks, of course, have been off to a rough start this season, and entered Saturday’s game in Chicago with a 2-7-3 record. Chicago, meanwhile, was 11-2-3 and in first place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference.

On paper that spells mismatch. But the Jacks skated away with an exciting 5-4 overtime victory, and are now 2-1-1 against the mighty Steel this season.

Second-year forward Owen Mehlenbacher sealed up the win with a goal at 2:19 of the overtime period.

Other goal scorers for the Jacks were Emil Jarventie, Jack Willams, Parker Lindauer and Joey Larson, while Noah Ellis had two assists.

The latest victory echoes back to last season, when the Steel won the Eastern Conference title and the league’s Clark Cup championship, yet the Lumberjacks gave Chicago fits all season, beating the Steel in four out of nine meetings in the regular season.

The Lumberjacks may be motivated by recent playoff history. Muskegon has been eliminated from the postseason by the Steel three straight times – in 2018, 2019 and last season. There were no Clark Cup playoffs in 2020 cue to COVID.

“I just think, going against a team they have a long history with, the guys get a little fired up it,” said Jacks Coach Mike Hamilton, who frequently mentions those playoff outcomes for motivational purposes. “Being able to play with the top team in the division makes you feel good.”

When asked about his team’s positive trend, with victories in two of the past three games, Hamilton credited the recent addition of goalie Platon Zadorozhny, a Russian import who has played well and stabilized the goaltending situation in recent weeks.

“I just think the move in net inserted a lot of confidence,” the coach said. “It sort of raised the bar. For instance, one of our weaknesses has been killing penalties, but right away our penalty kill starts getting better when we get a goalie we can depend on. There has definitely been a difference since that move took place.”

The win lifted the Lumberjacks out of last place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference. They are now seventh out of eight teams with nine points in the standings, while Team USA is in last place with seven points.

The Jacks could quickly climb in the standings if they play well over the next few weeks, because several teams are within easy shooting distance. Green Bay is only two points ahead of Muskegon with 11, while Dubuque and Cedar Rapids are tied for fourth with 14.

Muskegon will travel to Dubuque for games against the Fighting Saints on Friday and Saturday night. The Jacks will then visit Team USA for a matinee game on Nov. 24, before returning home for home games on Nov. 26-27 against Madison.

“Winning is fun,” Hamilton said. “It’s a reward for hard work. We haven’t been doing anything different. We just continue to work hard, and as you gain confidence, good things start to happen.”

Penalty Court

The Lumberjacks are not the most penalized team in the USHL. They have 198 penalty minutes so far this season, which is third in the Eastern Conference, but all eight teams in the Western Conference have more than 200 penalty minutes.

The problem for the Jacks is that they give up way too many goals when they are shorthanded. Their 67 percent penalty kill percentage is the worst in the USHL.

The good news is that the penalty killing has improved in the past couple of games.

On Nov. 6 against Youngstown, the Jacks killed off five of seven penalties without damage. On Saturday they were able to successful kill off five of six Chicago power plays, after being whistled seven times for 22 minutes in the penalty box.

But poorly-timed penalties have created some real challenges in recent games.

On Nov. 5 at home against Madison, the Jacks were called for two third period penalties – including one in the final minute of regulation that spilled over into overtime– but managed to dodge those bullets and escape with a 2-1 win in an overtime shootout.

The next night, the Jacks were called for a boarding penalty with just over two minutes left in the third period of a tied game. Youngstown scored a power play goal 10 seconds later and stole a 3-2 win.

On Saturday, the Lumberjacks were called for two penalties during the last half of the third period. Luckily neither infraction resulted in a Chicago goal, but that could have easily happened, and the outcome could have been different.

Of course the best way to curb the penalty kill woes would be to commit fewer penalties, and that’s being addressed, according to Hamilton.

The team has a periodic “penalty court,” where Hamilton and the players review each infraction to determine if it was necessary, or a foolish penalty that hurt the team. If the penalty is determined to be a bad one, the entire team does extra hard skating as punishment.

The players themselves act as the jury, but Hamilton is there to guide them as the judge.

“We created the rules about what we consider a good penalty and a bad penalty,” said Hamilton, who also noted that the coaches are now calling penalties in practice. “The player (who committed the penalty) gets to make his case and the team gets to talk about it.

“I am in there, I am part of the process, and I make sure things are swaying in the right direction. The players are actually harder on themselves than I think I am.

“This is the first year I’ve done this. Each team is different. Some teams need this type of leadership. One of the things about this team is you have to make sure you are holding them accountable. It’s been happening too often. We’ve got to be smarter about who and when and where and how the refs are calling the game.”

Rem Pitlick makes a big splash in NHL

Lumberjacks fans obviously remember Rem Pitlick, the high-scoring forward who set the team’s all-time single season points record in 2015-16.

He scored 46 goals that year with 43 assists for 89 points, and was named the USHL Player of the Year.

It looks like Pitlick might be headed for the same type of success in the National Hockey League.

On Saturday night Pitlick, now playing for the Minnesota Wild, scored the first three goals of his NHL career in a 4-2 win over the Seattle Kraken. He had a rare natural hat trick, which means the goals were scored consecutively, with no other goals scored by either team in between.

Pitlick is the first Wild player, and only the 31st in NHL history, to score a hat trick in the same game that he scored his first goal.