After fighting back to tie the game, the Muskegon Lumberjacks fell to the Dubuque Fighting Saints 4-3 on Thursday night on the road.
The loss was a blow to the Jack’s battle for the sixth and final playoff spot in the USHL’s Eastern Conference.
The Lumberjacks are now 25-28-3 on the season. They have 53 points in the standings, seven points behind sixth-place Cedar Rapids with six regular season games remaining.
The Jacks could earn a maximum of 12 points (two points per win) in their remaining six games, but Cedar Rapids has seven games remaining and could earn up to 14 points.
Muskegon will play games in Green Bay on Friday and Saturday night before returning home next weekend for two against last-place Madison. Cedar Rapids will play two road games against Team USA this weekend.
Dubuque pulled ahead 2-0 in the first period with goals from Michael Burchell and Ryan St. Louis. The Jacks rallied with goals from Ethan Fredericks and Ethan Whitcomb and the game was tied 2-2 heading into the second period.
Dubuque pulled ahead for good with second-period goals from Max Burkholder and Noah Powell.
Muskegon scored the lone goal of the third period, Whitcomb’s 24th of the season, at the 12:39 mark, but could not score the equalizer.
Lumberjacks goalie Raythan Robbins took the loss, stopping 28 of 32 shots.
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