Glacier gets a home ice split

After failing to score a goal in their last two games, which both resulted in losses, the Glacier Nationals rebounded this past weekend against Bozeman by splitting a two-game set with the Ice Dogs.

The action got underway on Friday in the first of back-to-back games against Bozeman inside the Havre Ice Dome. Glacier opened the two-game set by dropping a hard-fought game 3-2 on Friday but bounced back with a 5-4 win Saturday to put an end to a three-game losing skid.

Despite losing in the first game, the Nationals got off to a promising start thanks to a goal by Matt Simmons to give Glacier a 1-0 lead in the second period. Yet, Bozeman quickly responded with a pair of goals to close out the second by AJ Odell and Johnathan Carpenter to take a 2-1 lead into the third.

Tyler McMahon excited the crowd at the Ice Dome as he beat Bozeman goalie Denjis Romanovskis for the equalizer just four minutes into the final stanza. However, the excitement was short lived for the Nationals as Devin Panzeca of the Ice Dogs scored just two minutes and 42 seconds later to reclaim the lead.

From there, Romanovskis, who saved 17 of 19 Glacier shot attempts made the lead stick, sealing the win for the Ice Dogs. Nolan Slager was hit with the loss after stopping 25 of 28 Bozeman shots.

On Saturday, the two teams returned to the ice and early on it appeared as though the Ice Dogs were headed for a two-game sweep as they jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after a pair of goals by Gunnar Mogck.

Yet, Tommy Kaddatz scored midway through the first to trim the lead to 2-1, which remained the score until the 18:03 mark of the second period, when Kevin Steffey beat Slager to extend the Bozeman lead to 3-1.

However, the Bozeman lead would not last for long as the Nationals answered with an offensive explosion. First, Simmons found the back of the net less than two minutes after Steffey’s goal to trim the deficit to one at 3-2. Then, Matt Gamblin made his presence felt, scoring goals with 10:50 and 7:15 left in the second to put Glacier in the lead for the first time in the game at 4-3.

Before the period ended, the Nationals rung up another goal as McMahon scored to give them some breathing room and a 5-3 advantage after two. Bozeman did scored in the third to get within one at 5-4 but in the end, it wasn’t enough to overcome a stellar performance from Slager, who notched an incredible 50 saves to earn the victory.

The win improved the Nationals overall record to 10-28-5 and they will be back in action again this Friday, when they will play host to the Billings Bulls inside the Ice Dome.