MU8KEGON – They say any hockey team that hopes to win a championship needs a hot goalie who’s “standing on his head.”

It’s still early in the playoffs, but the Muskegon Lumberjacks’ Chase Clark faced 65 shots in two games so far and stopped all but one of them.

They also say teams that win the special teams battles will go a long way in the playoffs. The Jacks can check that box, too, after going 6-for-8 on the power play in two games and holding Cedar Rapids to no power play goals on seven chances.

All of that means the Lumberjacks will carry a lot of momentum into their Eastern Conference semifinal series after beating Cedar Rapids 6-1 on Tuesday at Mercy Health Arena and sweeping the short series two games to none.

Muskegon’s Joey Larson tries to work the puck past a Cedar Rapids player. Photo/Tonya Pardon

The Jacks will host Dubuque in Game 1 of the conference semifinals on Friday at 7 p.m. The last two games of the two-of-three series will be in Dubuque on Sunday and Monday.

Clark’s play in the two games against Cedar Rapids was everything the Lumberjacks could have hoped for, after going through numerous goalies throughout the regular season in search of a solid No. 1.

On Monday he stopped all 31 shots he faced and collected the shutout in a 6-0 win. On Tuesday he had a shutout going until late in the third period, when Cedar Rapids’ Martin Lavins scored with only 1:29 left in the game.

Some people, including Lumberjacks Coach Mike Hamilton, thought the goal should have been disallowed due to goalie interference. But either way, Clark played the way the Jacks have been hoping he would play since he came to the team in late January from the Tri-City Storm.

“He played a few games with Tri-City, and they had a strong goaltender, so he wasn’t getting the minutes,” Hamilton said about Clark. “He was looking for a new opportunity, and he won a championship in the league he came from last year, so he has the ability in him.

The Jacks celebrate a goal by Jacob Guevin. Photo/Tonya Pardon

“We didn’t know a lot about him. Steve Lowe (the Jacks’ President of Hockey Operations) knew him very well and kept telling us that he can be a difference-maker. We didn’t see that for a while, but he’s been putting in a lot of minutes and it’s finally translating.

“You can see the confidence oozing out of him now and that’s what we will need to move ourselves in the playoffs.”

Special team play was a nightmare for the Lumberjacks throughout the regular season, when they consistently ranked low in the Eastern Conference in power play goals and power play goals allowed.

The Jacks always had more depth than other teams and usually won the 5-on-5 battles, but when the penalties started, trouble often arrived.

That was not at all the case against Cedar Rapids. The Lumberjacks were 3-for-3 on the power play on Monday and 3-for-5 on Tuesday. They were 4-for-4 on the penalty kill on Monday and 3-for-3 on Tuesday.

Lumberjacks captain Jack Williams, who will lead the team into the conference semifinals in his third season in Muskegon. Photo/Tonya Pardon

“It has been a lot of hard work from the staff to get to this point with the special teams,” Hamilton said. “That is something that just doesn’t happen overnight. It’s hard work from everybody. Now we will smile for a few minutes and then we are going to start busting out Dubuque clips in the next hour.”

Tuesday’s game was incredibly similar to Monday’s,

The Jacks led 1-0 after one period following a power play goal by Jake Richard at 4:01 of the first period.

Muskegon added two more goals in the second period, from Jake Braccini at 4:56 and Nathan McBrayer at 13:09, and led 3-0 at the second intermission.

Jacob Guevin scored a power-play goal at 4:47 of the third period, when the Jacks’ had a 5-on-3 skater advantage, then Noah Ellis added another power play goal less than a minute later.

Muskegon’s Nick Peluso tries to shake off an opponent. Photo/Tonya Pardon

Quinn Hutson closed out the scoring for Muskegon with a goal at 7:09 of the third period, before Lavins found the net late in the game to break the shutout.

The Jacks won’t have much time to celebrate, with the short series against a powerful Dubuque squad starting on Friday night.

“They have some elite snipers, especially with their first line, which is special,” Hamilton said about the Fighting Saints. “They can come at you and they have some depth. We have to get to their goaltender and make sure we are keeping traffic in front of their net.

“Their defensemen are capable of turning the puck over if we put pressure on them.

“We feel better about ourselves, but it will be a completely different style of play. They are a little more puck possession and we are going have to step up our game and take it to the next level against a quality opponent.”