MUSKEGON – The Muskegon Lumberjacks have been winning a lot of games lately, but special teams have remained a problem.

So Coach Mike Hamilton announced that the focus for the next few weeks will be scoring more goals on the power play, and giving up fewer when the Jacks are short-handed.

So far the new focus is working out pretty well.

The Lumberjacks went to overtime with visiting Youngstown on Friday in a New Year’s Eve game, then got a power play opportunity with 2:51 left in the five-minute extra session.

They took full advantage, blistering the Youngstown net with eight shots before forward Quinn Hutson found the mark on a high shot from the right circle with 1:09 remaining, giving the Jacks an exciting 3-2 victory over the Phantoms at Mercy Health Arena.

The Lumberjacks improved to 14-10-3 on the season and remain in third place in the USHL’s Eastern Conference. Youngstown, which came into the game in sixth place, dropped to 10-11-5.

The Jacks have now won 12 of their last 15 games.

The Jacks will host Team USA on Saturday night at 7:10 p.m.

The Jacks were 2-for-2 on the night in power-play opportunities, while only allowing Youngstown to score one goal on four opportunities.

That was a step in the right direction, as far as Coach Hamilton was concerned.

“We obviously gave up a penalty kill goal, but we killed like four of them,” Hamilton said. “We scored two power play goals, including the one that won it, so we came out on top in the special teams battle by a plus-one.

“We are going to have to keep improving in those areas. The only way we are going to go anywhere in the playoffs is by winning the special teams battle.”

The victory was also a triumph for Lumberjacks goalie Cameron Korpi, a 17-year-old rookie who was making only his fifth start of the season.

With two older, more experienced Russian goalies on the roster, it’s a wonder that Korpi sees any ice time at all. But the Jacks love his potential and know he won’t improve by sitting on the bench, so they find games for him to start.

Korpi rose to the occasion on Friday, stopping 26 of 28 shots in regulation, and two more in overtime.

“He had a great week of practice,” Hamilton said about the young goalie. “We had an internal game the other day and he won it and looked really sharp. We believe in what he brings to the table, so we need to remain committed to developing him.

“I believe he wants back both of the goals he allowed, but he made four or five saves he shouldn’t have.”

Korpi nearly got the win in regulation, taking a 2-1 lead to the mid-point of the third period, before Youngstown’s Grant Porter tied the game at the 8:37 mark, leading to the overtime session.

The Jacks got their big break in overtime when Youngstown’s William Whitelaw broke in alone on goal. Korpi made the save, but Whitelaw plowed into him and knocked the goal off its moorings, leading to a two-minute charging call.

That led to the 4-on-3 power play and Hutson’s game-winning goal.

“We had a good game, and I was shooting a ton of shots, I just couldn’t get it in until the last shot,” Hutson said. “They put in new nets today, so it was kind of tight and the puck went in and right out, so I don’t think a lot of people thought it went in.”

Muskegon outshot Youngstown 43-30 for the game.