MUSKEGON – The Muskegon Lumberjacks did go quietly into the long offseason, like so many teams that miss the playoffs do.

The Jacks could have easily showed up on Saturday night, when through the motions and lost yet another game to wrap up a losing season.

Instead they kept battling after falling behind 2-0, dominated the third period and beat the Chicago Steel 8-5 at Trinity Health Arena in the final game of the 2022-23 season.

The Lumberjacks had all the motivation, because it was their last chance to finish a really bad year on a positive note, instead of wrapping up with a five-game losing streak.

Chicago had zero motivation, because the Steel wrapped up the USHL Eastern Conference championship when they beat the Jacks on Friday, and were simply playing a meaningless game before beginning their playoff push next week.

The Jacks took advantage of that motivational advantage and gave the home fans one final treat.

The Lumberjacks celebrate after winning the final game of the season.

“It was nice to see us go out with a win, especially for the players who are leaving, but also for the players who are coming back, and end the season on a positive note,” said Lumberjacks Coach Parker Burgess. “At this time next season, we want to be focusing on the playoffs and playing for a Clark Cup.”

There’s no way the season can be called a success. After putting a playoff team on the ice for every season since 2015-16, and getting off to a pretty good start between late September and mid- December this year, the Lumberjacks collapsed in the second half of the campaign.

In the end they finished with a 27-32-3 record, good for 55 points and seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

Of the 16 teams in the USHL, only four do not make the Clark Cup playoffs, and the Lumberjacks were one of them.

That made Saturday night’s performance all the more impressive. The Jacks were just playing for pride, and they skated off the ice holding their heads up.

“This has been a season of ups and downs, wins and losses, and it’s been quite a ride,” Burgess said. “If I was to write a book, I would write about what we went through in a couple of chapters.”

The game started out like a pending Chicago romp.

The Lumberjacks visit with fans on the ice after the game ended.

Brady Arneson and Quinn Finley found the net in the first period and the Steel headed into the second with a 2-0 lead.

The Jacks started kicking up their heels in the second period.

Easton Young scored at the 2:46 mark and Michael Callow followed at 3:25, tying the score at 2-2.

Finley scored his second goal at 5:34, putting the visitors up by a goal, then Muskegon surged ahead with goals by Matvei Gridin at 9:58 and Niko Rexine at 13:15, putting the Jacks up 4-3.

Finley completed his hat trick at 15:34 of the second period, and the final period started with a 4-4 tie.

The Jacks pulled ahead just 25 seconds into the third period when George Fagaras scored on a high shot from the right faceoff circle.

Ethan Fredericks added a goal at the 5:39 mark and Michael Callow added another with a tally at 10:07.

Chicago’s Jack Harvey found the mark at 14:54, making the score 7-5. Fredericks wrapped things up for Muskegon with an open-netter at the 19:44 mark.

Jacks goalie Thomas Kiesewetter, a Russian newcomer playing his first game on the final day of the season, performed well, stopping 35 of 40 shots, including any number of Chicago breakaways.