Bulls sweep Nationals

The Glacier Nationals of the North American Tier 3 Hockey League were back in action this past weekend and despite being competitive in a pair of Frontier Division games, they walked away with no points in the standings.

The Nationals and Billings Bulls both made the long trek to Sidney for back-to-back games Friday and Saturday night. And after defeating Glacier Oct. 10 in Havre, the Bulls showed their superiority again with a two-game sweep by the scores of 7-3 and 2-0.

The losses drop the Nationals to 1-8-1 on the season, leaving Glacier with just three points in the standings. The Bulls, on the other hand, are now 5-3 and have a total of 10 points eight games into the 2014-15 season.

Friday night, the Bulls jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead thanks to a pair of goals by Nick Rizzo, with the first coming just 1:19 into the game. The second goal by Rizzo came with 10:54 left in the opening period. Then, before intermission, Billings struck again. This time, Cameron Birklid found the back of the net at the end of the first the Bulls led 3-0.

Early in the second, the Nationals got on the scoreboard when Sam Shaheen scored with an assist from Blake Evennou with 13:03 left in the second period to cut the Bullslead down to 3-1.

Billings answered at the 9:58 mark in the second stanza with a goal by Steven Thompson. Yet, the Nationals would respond and before the end of the period Branden Jester scored to make it 4-2 in favor of the Bulls heading into the final period.

Just over four minutes into the final stanza, Ian Wiljanen scored to put the Bulls ahead 5-2 with 15:56 left in the game. Glacier scored just 39 seconds later as Gosnell Decker found the net to make the score 5-3 and renew hope for the Nationals.

But, that is as close as the Nationals would get. Billings responded with two more goals and held on for the 7-3 victory.

The Nationals actually outshot the Bulls 47-32 but thanks to an outstanding performance by Bulls’ goalie Cole Semchak, who racked up 45 saves, Glacier was unable to capitalize. Semchak earned the win, while the loss went to Nolan Slager of Glacier, who stopped just 25 of 32 shots.

Saturday night, the two teams played their third game in eight days and was the polar opposite of Friday night’s offensive explosion.

There was no score after the first period and the first goal didn’t come until 5:19 left in the second period when the Bulls finally broke the stalemate when Alex Lundstrom beat Nationals’ goalie Ryan Lund to give Billings a 1-0 advantage.

The Nationals tried desperately for the equalizer but Billings put it out of reach when Tristian Henrichs of Billings scored a power play goal with 10:14 left in the game to give the Bulls a 2-0 advantage that proved to be insurmountable.

Semchak earned the win again for the Bulls turning away 23 shots on his way to earning the shutout victory. Lund may have been credited with the loss but he did more than enough to win, stopping 45 of 47 shots in the loss.

The loss drops the Nationals to sixth place in the Frontier standings ahead of Bozeman, who currently sits in last place with two points. Billings is currently tied for third with Gillette, Wyoming with 10 points. Helena sits atop the standings with 18 points, followed by Great Falls, which is second with 12.

The Nationals will hit the ice again this Saturday, when they hit the road for back-to-back games against the Yellowstone Quake. The first game will be Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Then, on Sunday to first puck will drop at 4:30 p.m.