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.
[1]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.
[2]