General 10/7/2023 9:13:00 PM

Steel Stumble in 8-2 Loss to Lumberjacks Saturday

Mick Thompson, Price Grimes score; Cloutier makes 40 saves in loss

MUSKEGON, MI — The Muskegon Lumberjacks (4-1-0-0, 8 pts.) exploded for five goals in the third period to cruise to an 8-2 win over the Chicago Steel (1-5-0-0, 2 pts.) Saturday night at Trinity Health Arena.

Mick Thompson scored his second goal of the season for Chicago, while Price Grimes notched his first career USHL goal. Louka Cloutier was tasked with 48 shots, and made 40 saves.

Saturday's game did not start the way the Steel had anticipated. Only :45 into the game, Sacha Boisvert found the back of the net to give the Jacks an early 1-0 lead and extend his goal streak to five in the last three games.

The Steel settled in after giving up the goal and were awarded a power play shortly after. While they did not score on their first advantage, Chicago's first power play of the night looked much cleaner than any they had Friday against the Phantoms when they went 0-for-6.

For much of the first, Steel goaltender Louka Cloutier was forced to make complex saves, and he did just that, stopping a breakaway, cross-crease passes, and shots in close to keep the Jacks in check.

The physical trend in play continued when the Steel were sent shorthanded just past the halfway point of the first and the Lumberjacks made it hurt.

Only five seconds into the man advantage, David Klee deflected a point shot from Owen Keefe after an offensive zone draw win. With the tip, Cloutier stood no chance.

The Steel nearly found their way onto the scoreboard when Charlie Major put on a dangling display around defenders, cut towards the middle of the low slot, and fired on net, but a great glove save made by Jacks goalie Lukas Swedin kept the Steel off the board.

Later, Lukas Sawchyn also saw a great opportunity on a breakaway, but again, Swedin was tall to the task and denied Sawchyn.

With less than a minute in the first, the Jacks get a 3-on-1, but Cloutier made an immaculate save while sliding to his left to keep it a 2-0 deficit.

After being held to seven shots in the first period, Chicago finally struck oil early in the second.

Michael Hage carried the puck over the blue line and hit the brakes, saucering a perfect pass to a streaking Mick Thompson who roofed the puck over Swedin to make it a 2-1 game. Hage's assist moved his point streak to seven in four games.

Cloutier continued to stay busy with another handful of highlight-reel stops. Chicago's netminder was suffocated for a large chunk of their third power play by a shorthanded Jacks PK unit, and Muskegon's constant pressure paid off.

At 8:55, Jack Galanek found possession in the Jacks end, skated back in a two-on-one, and fired a shot by Cloutier for a shorthanded goal to push their lead again to two.

The Steel got to within a goal thanks to another first career USHL score later in the frame.

After to a forced turnover, Lukas Sawchyn skated up the left wing and found Price Grimes trailing the play. With speed behind him, Grimes ripped a shot to the far post and in, making it a 3-2 game.

Muskegon was dangerously close to expanding its lead again, but Cloutier made a ridiculous scorpion save late in the second period to keep Chicago within one.

The Steel were primed to tie the game after taking momentum into the third period, but Muskegon turned on their offense in a tremendous way in the final frame.

At 3:30 of the third, Lumberjacks leading scorer Matvei Gridin scored his first goal of the night, setting off a chain reaction that saw the Jacks score five unanswered goals in the third.

Justin Solovey and Joe Connor scored 1:23 apart to make it 6-2.

Solovey added his second goal of the night later in the period, and Hunter Anderson scored his third goal of the season with :17 to play, capping off the 8-2 win for Muskegon.

The Lumberjacks put 48 total shots on Cloutier, further solidifying the efforts from the Nebraska-Omaha commit. The game's final score could've looked much different if not for the performance from Cloutier.

Chicago will return to Fox Valley Ice Arena on Friday, October 13 to host Waterloo for Freaky Friday the 13^th.

The Steel will stay home the following weekend on Saturday, October 21 to play the Youngstown Phantoms for Pups and Pucks presented by PetSuites.

Single game tickets are on sale now starting at just $10. All Steel tickets are digital and fans are encouraged to purchase online in advance at ChicagoSteelHockeyTeam.com.

For more information, call 855-51-STEEL or visit ChicagoSteelHockeyTeam.com.

Chicago Steel Upcoming Schedule presented by Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush:
Friday, October 13 vs. Waterloo Black Hawks (7:05 pm CT) Freaky Friday the 13^th
Saturday, October 21 vs. Youngstown Phantoms (6:05 pm CT) Pucks and Pups presented by PetSuites
Friday, October 27 at Sioux City Musketeers (7:05 pm CT)

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Players Mentioned

#14 Mick Thompson: F; 5' 8"; Harvard University

#3 Price Grimes: Defense; 6' 3"; Freshman; University of New Hampshire

#1 Louka Cloutier: Goaltender; 6' 1"; Freshman; University of Nebraska-Omaha

Players Mentioned

#14 Mick Thompson
: 5' 8"; Harvard University
: F

#3 Price Grimes
: 6' 3"; Freshman; University of New Hampshire
: Defense

#1 Louka Cloutier
: 6' 1"; Freshman; University of Nebraska-Omaha
: Goaltender

Players Mentioned

#14 Mick Thompson

#3 Price Grimes

#1 Louka Cloutier

Players Mentioned

#14 Mick Thompson

#3 Price Grimes

#1 Louka Cloutier