Jacks Back in Conference Final, Take on Dubuque

Sports stats



USHL Muskegon Lumberjacks

Jacks Back in Conference Final, Take on Dubuque

April 24, 2025 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Muskegon Lumberjacks News Release


MUSKEGON, MI - The 2025 Eastern Conference Finals brings a rematch of last year's matchup between the Muskegon Lumberjacks and Dubuque Fighting Saints. Both teams feature a healthy mix of returners from 2024 and newcomers this season.

Dubuque looks to replicate the result of a 3-game sweep last season, while the Jacks look to return to the Clark Cup Final for the first time since 2015.

Conference Final Schedule

Fri. April 25 | 8:05 pm ET | at Dubuque

Sat. April 26 | 8:05 pm ET | at Dubuque

Tue. April 29 | 7:00 pm ET | in Muskegon

Wed. April 30 | 7:00 pm ET | in Muskegon *if necessary

Sat. May 3 | 8:05 pm ET | at Dubuque *if necessary

Series Preview

The Lumberjacks have been to five of the last six Eastern Conference Finals and return for the second straight season against the Dubuque Fighting Saints. Both teams are red hot entering the third-round matchup, looking to carry the momentum into a berth to the 2025 Clark Cup Final.

For the Lumberjacks, the Conference Finals is a familiar end-of-season point. Despite success through the first three rounds of the Clark Cup Playoffs, the Jacks haven't been to the Clark Cup Finals since 2015.

Dubuque wants to repeat last year's result and return to the Finals for the second straight season. After going 6-1 in the Eastern Conference bracket, the Saints went 1-3 in the finals, falling to the 2024 Clark Cup Champion Fargo Force.

Similar to last season, the Saints have home ice advantage, with three of the five games taking place in Dubuque. Games one and two are on Friday and Saturday at ImOn arena before the teams make their way to Muskegon for games three and four on Tuesday and Wednesday. If necessary, game five is back in Dubuque next Friday.

During the regular season, the teams met four times, split into a pair of two-game weekend series. Back in November, the teams met at Trinity Health Arena, and both sides picked up a win.

Friday the 29th featured a goaltending duel between Shikhabutdin Gadzhiev and Jan Spunar. Neither team scored in the first 40 minutes, but the final frame saw the Saints outscore the Jacks 3-1. Matthew Desiderio opened the scoring before Vaclav Nestrasil responded to tie the game for the Jacks with a power-play goal. Heikki Ruohonen broke the tie, followed by Charlie Arend depositing the puck into an empty net to take game one.

Saturday the 30th went to the win column for Muskegon. Carter Sanderson gave the Jacks a 1-0 lead in the first period, but Josh Giuliani quickly tied the game 46 seconds into the second. A goal in the final minute of the period from Tynan Lawrence sent the Jacks back to the locker room with a 2-1 lead. A minute and a half of game time later, Lawrence scored again. In the first minute of the third, his power-play goal made it 3-1, Muskegon. David Klee cashed in on the momentum, making it 4-1 just under two minutes later. Dubuque scored a pair of goals in a comeback effort, but the Jacks held on in the end for the win.

The teams didn't meet again until the beginning of March for a weekend series at ImOn Arena in Dubuque. Again, the series was tightly contested with both teams picking up wins, though the wins came in overtime this time.

On Friday the 7th, the teams traded goals throughout regulation to the tune of a 3-3 scoreline, forcing overtime for the first time in the season-long series. Jonathan Morello carried the puck up the ice and slid a pass across the slot to Gavin Cornforth for an easy one-timer off the rush.

The next night, Saturday the 8th, the game wasn't as back and forth. Ruohonen and Colin Frank scored in the first period to give the Saints a 2-0 lead at the first intermission. Xavier Veilleux and Luka Radivojevic scored in the second period for the Jacks to tie the game before the third. Muskegon took a 3-2 lead 4:18 into the third period with a goal from David Deputy, but a quick response from Cole Spicer tied the game back up, and the game went to overtime for the second straight night. Dubuque didn't get a chance to touch the puck in the sudden-death period before Lawrence wired a shot to the back of the net.

Eastern Conference Semifinals recap

Playoff hockey is a different beast than the regular season, and the Lumberjacks figured that out in the second round with a 3-game series sweep over the top-seeded Youngstown Phantoms. After being the only team not to sweep their first-round matchup, the Jacks took care of business against the RoughRiders and hit the road to meet the Phantoms for games one and two at the Covelli Centre.

The series' first goal came 1:37 into game one from Ivan Ryabkin and was followed by four more for the Jacks over the next 23 minutes. The shocking start for the Jacks pushed the Phantoms to swap out their USHL Goalie of the Year nominee halfway through the first game. Three goals in the third period for Youngstown gave them some life, but the Jacks held off just long enough to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-5 series.

On Easter Sunday, the teams took to the ice at the Covelli Centre again. And again, the Jacks were dominant. Brecken Smith opened the scoring for the Phantoms, but a 3/4 line on the power play helped pave the way to a 6-2 win. David Deputy had 2 goals and an assist, helping his team to a commanding 2-0 lead in the series.

Game three was in Muskegon on Tuesday night, and again, the Lumberjacks were the better team. On the game's first shot, Deputy made it 1-0 before adding an assist moments later. Deputy finished with another 2 goal, 1 assist performance, and the Game ended 5-3 in favor of the Jacks, who advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals thanks to the 3-0 sweep.

Over the Airwaves

FloHockey is the official live stream partner of the USHL. Follow along all season long on FloHockey or with a free internet radio feed is also available on Mixlr and the Lumberjacks Hockey Network Presented by Lakeside Surfaces with Voice of the Jacks, Ezra Gennello.

Thirty minutes to puck drop every game day, the Lumberjacks Hockey Network Pregame Show takes place on Facebook Live.

Check out the Muskegon Lumberjacks Statistics

• Discuss this story on the United States Hockey League message board...

United States Hockey League Stories from April 24, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central