Nationals searching for wins in Great Falls, Helena

It has been more than six weeks since the Glacier Nationals have won a hockey game and while a difficult schedule has contributed to their struggles, things will not get any easier this weekend with back-to-back games against the Great Falls Americans and Helena Bighorns.

After a four-game home stand the last couple of weekends in the Havre Ice Dome, Glacier will be back on the road starting tonight as the Nationals will travel to Great Falls to take on the Americans, who currently sit atop the standings in the Frontier Division of the North American Tier 3 Hockey League.

The Nationals will play the first of back-to-back games this weekend tonight against Great Falls. The first puck will drop 7:30 p.m.

Then, the Nationals will hit the road again for Saturday night, when they will travel to Helena to take on the Bighorns in another Frontier Division matchup. The Bighorns already boast a 2-0-1 record against Glacier and will be looking to improve upon its third-place position in the standings. The matchup between Helena and Glacier will get underway at 7:30.

Tonight, the Nationals (1-12-3) will look to put an end to their winless streak, which now rests at 10 games against a Great Falls team that has been dominating the Frontier to the tune of 15-1 record. The Americans will be looking for their second straight victory over Glacier this season after trouncing the Nationals 8-2 in Havre back on Sept. 20.

The reason for the Americans’ success this season is two-fold; they have a very solid and diverse offensive attack that has seen six different players with at least five goals and a total of 19 players that have found the back of the net this season. They also have an extremely stingy defense that has surrendered just 22 goals in 15 games, thanks in large part tos the incredible play of goaltenders Lauren Messie and Evan Hauser, who are each averaging less than two goals against per game.

While the Americans surrender just 1.4 goals per game, the Nationals have only managed to score 1.6 goals per game and have given up a total of 80 goals or an average of five goals per game to opponents.

Karson Frisk and Joshua Larson are each tied for the Glacier team lead with four goals apiece and will be counted on heavily to produce on the offensive end of the ice if the Nationals are going to have any chance of upsetting the Americans.

Other key players for the Nationals include Tyler McMahon, Dustin Foran and Wyatt Freitheim as well as goaltenders Ryan Lund and Nolan Slager, who have each played well despite their lack of statistical success.

Saturday, the Nationals will once again have their hands full against a Bighorn team that dominated Glacier 8-2 in Havre back on Nov. 7, and comes into the contest boasting a 10-3 overall record.

Helena is one of the deepest teams in the Frontier, and boasts a number of talented skaters such as Matt Mohar, Brandt Miller, Kendall Bolen-Porter and Nick Trefry.

The Bighorns also have a slew of talented goaltenders led by Grant Martens, who has a 6-2 record on the season, as well as Mac Alboreo and Alex Kruger.

The Nationals still sit in sixth place out of seven teams in the Frontier standings, with just five points on the season. They will open their two-game road trip tonight in Great Falls, when they will take on the Americans at 7:30. Then, Saturday, Glacier will pay a visit to Helena with the action getting started at 7:30 p.m.