Big Weekend: Glacier gets Frontier points in Bozeman

The Glacier Nationals knew going into their two-game set against the Bozeman Ice Dogs that they had a golden opportunity to get some points in the Frontier Division standings. And after bringing a three-game losing streak into the weekend, the Nationals came through with points in back-to-back games in Bozeman.

Friday night, in the Nationals' first game since Dec. 20, Glacier earned a come-from-behind road victory over the Ice Dogs as they defeated Bozeman 4-3 in overtime. But, not to be outdone, the Ice Dogs rallied Saturday to score their own overtime win by the score of 3-2.

With the win Friday and the overtime loss Saturday, the Nationals improved their record to 5-20-5 overall on the season and picked up three points in the Frontier Division of the North American Tier 3 Hockey League. They remain tied with Bozeman for sixth place. Each team now has 15 points on the season.

Early on in Friday's game, it looked like Bozeman would notch its second straight win over the Nationals. The Ice Dogs grabbed the 1-0 lead just over four minutes into the game on a goal by Kyler Chartier. Glacier answered on a Tyler McMahon goal with 9:10 left in the opening period to tie the game at 1-1. But minutes later, Bozeman reclaimed the advantage thanks to a goal by Steven Nisbet, which gave the Ice Dogs a 2-1 lead.

Still down by one late in the second period, Glacier turned the tide. With 5:11 to go in the period, Blake Evennou beat Bozeman goalie Steven Frank to even the score at 2-2. Then, less than three minutes later, Karson Frisk scored against Frank to give Glacier a 3-2 leading heading into the third.

After holding Bozeman scoreless for much of the final stanza, the Ice Dogs finally broke through the Nationals’ defense for a goal as Kegan Couture found the net with 2:32 to play in the game. Both teams went scoreless in the final minutes of regulation and the game went to overtime.

Fortunately for the Nationals the extra session did not last long. Frisk, who gave Glacier the lead in the second period, gave them the win with his second goal of the night, which came just 59 seconds into overtime.

Ryan Lund earned the win for the Nationals after a solid night between the pipes. He faced a total of 32 shots and turned away 29. Frank was given the loss for Bozeman after allowing four goals and registering just 18 saves.

Saturday, Glacier was looking for its first consecutive wins of the season but again fell behind early when Nisbet beat Lund for a goal with 3:03 left in the first period to put Bozeman ahead 1-0. But for the second straight day, the Nationals would score two goals in the second period. The first came from Karson Frisk six minutes into the period tying the game at 1-1. The second came from Joshua Larson with the Nationals trailing 2-1. Couture scored earlier in the period to put Bozeman back up 2-1 before Larson tied things up with 3:18 left in the stanza.

Following Larson’s goal, neither team scored for 23 minutes of regulation, sending them to overtime for the second straight night. As with Friday’s game, overtime lasted less than a minute as 59 seconds into the extra frame, Couture scored his second goal of the night to give Bozeman the 3-2 win.

Frank earned the win with two goals allowed and 25 saves, while Lund received the loss for Glacier despite racking up a total of 29 saves in the outing.

The Nationals will return home this weekend, where they will host the Yellowstone Quake for back-to-back games inside the Havre Ice Dome Friday and Saturday. The first puck will drop Friday night at 7:30 p.m.