MUSKEGON, Mich. — The Bloomington Thunder close their regular season road schedule with a trip to Muskegon to face the Lumberjacks on Friday night, the first of a three-game weekend.

Last weekend, the Thunder (23-25-4-3, 53 pts) split a two-game series against Team USA, topping the Under-17 team, 3-1, last Friday before falling 6-0 to the Under-18 squad in the series finale the next night.  

Muskegon enters Friday night after a series split of their own last weekend, halving a two-game set with the Fargo Force. The Lumberjacks (34-18-3-1, 72 pts) beat the Force, 4-3, in the series opener but dropped the finale, 5-2.

Currently sitting in second place in the Eastern Conference, Muskegon will play its final two home games of the regular season this weekend. The Lumberjacks host Team USA on Saturday night to close out their home schedule.

Scouting Muskegon

Entering Friday night, the Lumberjacks are just three points from clinching a playoff spot and could do so on Friday with a win and Youngstown loss or overtime loss. Muskegon could still feasibly catch Chicago for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, but trail the Steel by five points with Chicago still holding a game in hand.

Muskegon has the second-highest home win total in the Eastern Conference and has lost just seven times in regulation on home ice this season, compiling an 18-7-2-1 record at L.C. Walker Arena this season.  

A big reason for Muskegon’s success this season has been its offense, which ranks fourth in the USHL in goals per game. The Lumberjacks have two 50-point scorers in Andrei Svechnikov (56) and Collin Adams (50). Austin Albrecht (43 points) and Austin Albrecht (52 points) have also eclipsed the 40-point plateau, giving Muskegon four players with at least 40 points.

Need to Know

• The Thunder penalty kill has been solid in recent weeks and enters the weekend having killed off 32 of the last 36 opponent power plays, an 88.9 percent success rate.
   
• Following Friday’s contest, Bloomington will have played 13 of its last 15 games on the road. Friday’s game is also part of the Thunder’s current five-game road trip, which is their second longest road trip of the regular season.

• For a team that has had quite a bit of home success, the Lumberjacks have actually scored fewer goals per game in home games than in road games. Muskegon averages 2.9 goals per game at home and 3.3 goals per contest on the road.

• Muskegon has struggled on the penalty kill this season and ranks 13th in the USHL with an 81.8 percent conversion rate. Bloomington went 1-for-9 on the power play in the series against the Lumberjacks on March 9-10.

Series History

Friday night will be the 16th all-time meeting between the two teams and the fifth meeting this season. The Thunder trail the all-time series and have posted a record of 5-7-1-3 in the first 15 meetings. Muskegon has won each of the four meetings this season, but the Thunder picked up a point in each game of a two-game set on March 9-10 by pushing both games to at least overtime. Muskegon won a 2-1 overtime contest on March 9 before earning a 3-2 shootout win over the Thunder in the most recent matchup on March 10.

Players to Watch

Bloomington: Logan Halladay — After missing both games last weekend due to illness, Halladay will aim to pick up on a recent hot stretch that dates back to the start of the month of March. Halladay has yielded two goals or fewer in six of his last seven starts. In that seven-game stretch, the Merrimack College commit boasts a .946 save percentage and a 1.51 goals-against-average. He yielded just four goals between two overtime contests against Muskegon earlier in the month.

Team USA: Andrei Svechnikov — The 17-year-old Russian rookie had the shootout winner in the most recent meeting between the two teams on March 10 and leads the USHL in rookie scoring with his 56 points. That point total is third among all USHL players behind only Dubuque’s Zach Solow (60) and Fargo’s Blake Lizotte (58).

Drawing Connections

Thunder defenseman Dan Willett played 34 games for the Lumberjacks between the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons before he was acquired by the Madison Capitols. Willett had a goal and nine assists in his 34 games, with his goal coming against Team USA on Jan. 17, 2014. Bloomington has just one Michigan native on the roster, Calen Kiefiuk (Macomb, Michigan). Thunder forward Walker Duehr played with Muskegon’s Mikael Hakkarainen earlier this season with Chicago. Will Garin and Charlie Raith both played with Muskegon’s Austin Albrecht in Sioux Falls earlier this season, as well.

The two teams have players committed to six of the same schools: Colorado College: Christiano Versich (BLM), Zach Berzolla (MUS); UMass Amherst: Marko Reifenberger (BLM), Austin Albrecht (MUS), Marc Del Gaizo (MUS), Anthony Del Gaizo (MUS); Minnesota State Mankato: Walker Duehr (BLM), Ty Farmer (MUS), Jack McNeely (MUS); North Dakota: Mitchell Mattson (BLM), Collin Adams (MUS); Notre Dame: Cameron Burke (BLM), Matt Steeves (MUS); Providence College: Mike Callahan (BLM), Gabe Mollot-Hill (BLM), Mikael Hakkarainen (MUS);

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Up Next
The Thunder return home for the final two games of the three-game weekend, starting with a Saturday night matchup against the Madison Capitols. Saturday night is Miller Park Zoo Night, featuring a Zoo animal squeeze toy giveaway for the first 500 kids 12-and-younger and a $1 hot dog special. There will be live animals from the Zoo at the game and ticket stubs from Saturday’s game will get fans into the Zoo for free on Sunday.

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