Playing with three regulars out due to injury the Lumberjacks started slow at home on Tuesday night, but by the end of their game against Forest Lake it was a similar result with CEC taking away a 6-2 win behind an incredible game from Tyler Johnson.
Skating with Riley Roe and Justin Jokinen, Johnson finished the game with five goals including a pair of goals in the first and second periods, in fact Johnson scored the first five goals of the game for Cloquet.
Johnson gave the Jacks the lead at 6:31 of the first with Austin Hatch and Peter Allen assisting. However the Rangers tied the game at 9:08 on a powerplay goal by Andy Hardy. The Jacks regained the lead when Johnson sniped a goal at 10:41 of the first with David Brown and Jokinen assisting.
At 6:10 of the second period Johnson tallied again with Jokinen and Roe assisting completing the hat trick. Johnson was not done though as he notched a goal with just 1:44 remaining in the second again assisted by Roe and Jokinen.
Kyle Morgan gave the Rangers hope at 6:28 of the third period with a marker that cut the lead to 4-2, but again it was Johnson thwarting the comeback by slamming in his fifth goal of the night at 12:26 with an unassisted goal.
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The Lumberjacks final goal was the first of the season for Kyle Potswald at 13:08 with Sever Lundquist and Ryan Defoe garnering assists.
CEC tossed 36 shots on Ranger goalie Paul Moberg who made 30 saves while Reid Ellingson picked up 21 saves on 23 shots for the Jacks.
The win was the 10th against no losses at home for CEC this season. The Jacks are currently ranked #4 in the Minnesota Class AA High School Hockey Poll.