MUSKEGON – If ever there were a team that deserved a breather for a few days, it’s the Muskegon Lumberjacks.

The Jacks have had a very busy month, playing 9 of 10 games on the road and logging roughly 40 bus hours since April 2.

All of that travel took them to the final weekend of the regular season, when they played in Chicago on Friday night, before returning home and hosting Chicago on Saturday.

But the playoffs begin on Monday, just two days after the end of the regular season, so there’s literally no time for rest.

The Lumberjacks (33-23-6) will host Cedar Rapids (29-29-4) in a best 2-of-3 series, with all the games in Muskegon. Games 1 and 2 will be Monday and Tuesday at Mercy Health Arena, and Game 3, if needed, would be on Wednesday.

Winning the series would not bring much rest for the Jacks, either. If they clinched the series in two games, they would host Dubuque in Game 1 of the second round on Friday. If they needed three games to clinch, they would host Dubuque on Saturday.

“We could definitely use some days off, no doubt about it, especially being on the road as much as we have been, but that’s not what’s been presented to us,” said Lumberjacks Coach Mike Hamilton.

The Lumberjacks didn’t know until Saturday night who their first-round opponent would be. Cedar Rapids and the Team USA 17-Under squad were tied for the sixth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot, but Cedar Rapids beat Dubuque on Saturday and won the right to play the Lumberjacks.

On paper, Team USA might have been the easier opponent for the Jacks, who won all six of their games against the 17-Unders this season.

Muskegon was also successful against Cedar Rapids, posting a 4-2 record, including 3-0 at home, but all of the games were competitive, and the Jacks aren’t expecting anything less in the playoffs.

The Roughriders live up to their nickname, playing a physical brand of hockey. That sometimes leads to tempers flaring, like they did during one game in December when the two teams had a multi-fight brawl on the ice.

“They play an honest, hard style of hockey,” Hamilton said about Cedar Rapids. “They keep it really simple and hit everything that moves.

“Without a doubt, we’re going to have to have our big boys out there a ton and simplify our game. It’s not going to be easy. They are a good hockey team that we respect. They’ve been fighting to make the playoffs for the last month, so they’ve really been in the playoffs for a month.”

The good news for the Jacks is that they will enter the playoffs with some strong momentum, after winning four of their last five regular season games.

They beat Green Bay 3-2, Team USA 5-4 and 6-2 and Chicago 5-4 before losing to Chicago 6-5 on Saturday, using a makeshift lineup.

The Lumberjacks should have a huge advantage over Cedar Springs from an offensive perspective. Muskegon has scored 256 goals this season, compared to the Roughriders’ 187.

The Jacks have a deep attack with eight players who have scored at least 15 goals this season – Quinn Hutson (33), Joey Larson (32), Phil Tresca (28), Jake Braccinii (26), Ben Strinden (25), Jack Williams (18), Jake Richard (18) and Owen Mehlenbacher (17).

The Roughriders only have four players in that category – Adam Flemming (27), Cole Burtch (16), Conor Lovett (16) and Jake Percival (15).

Team defense is a concern for Hamilton, however. Cedar Rapids gave up 213 goals in the regular season while Muskegon has surrendered 252.

“We’ve always been able to score,” Hamilton said. “Putting pucks in the net has never been an issue. Team defense remains an area of opportunity, but we’ve clamped it down and done a lot of positive things in that area lately.”

Like Muskegon, Cedar Rapids goes with a two-goalie system. Conner Hasley (14-15-1 record, 3.55 goals against average) has played in 33 games and Bruno Bruveris (15-12-3, 3.02 GAA) has played in 31.

Muskegon will counter with Aleksander Kuleshov (16-6-1, 4.01) and Chase Clark (7-7-1, 3.20).

Hamilton said he expects to have a full lineup for the series, which no injuries serious enough to keep anyone out of action.

“There’s been a lot of bumps and bruises and sickness, but at this point it would take a lot to keep anyone out of the lineup,” the coach said.