Nationals swept in Bozeman

The Glacier Nationals had hopes of making up ground in the Frontier Division standings this past weekend against Bozeman, but after back-to-back losses, they still find themselves behind the eight-ball in the division race.

The Nationals traveled to Bozeman for a pair of games in North American Tier 3 Hockey League play and fell on consecutive nights to the Ice Dogs 6-1 and 6-2. Glacier has now lost four consecutive games and for the season, the Nationals are 2-9-1.

On Friday night, the Nationals hung with Bozeman for two periods. The score was 0-0 after one and early in the second with Bozeman leading 1-0, Tyler McMahon scored for the Nationals to tie things up at 1-1.

Yet, the Ice Dogs got a goal from AJ Odell before the end of the second, then two goals from Kegan Couture to open the third, putting Bozeman in front 4-1. The two third-period goals also gave Couture, who scored in the second as well, a hat trick. Bozeman added two more goals before it was all said and done to wrap up the win.

Stephen Frank was the winning goaltender for the Ice Dogs and stopped 36 of the 37 shots that he faced. Raymond Smith was given the loss for Glacier after allowing five goals in 42 shot attempts. Smith did manage 37 saves.

In the second game Saturday, the Nationals once again got off to a solid start and even took the lead with just under nine minutes left in the opening stanza when Brandon Huntington scored to put Glacier up 1-0. Yet, Gunnar Mogck found the back of the net to make the score 1-1 at the end of the first period.

In the second period, the Ice Dogs scored three times and while the Nationals did get a goal from Casey LeBeau to keep the Nationals within striking distance, Glacier still found itself trailing 4-2 going into the third period.

In the final stanza, the Ice Dogs added two more goals for insurance and held Glacier scoreless to ensure a 6-2 win. Frank got the win for Bozeman despite not finishing the game. He made a total of 10 saves. Smith was again hit with the loss after stopping 35 of the 40 shots he contended with.

The Nationals will be back on the road this weekend as they will head to Cody, Wyoming, for consecutive road games with the Yellowstone Quake starting Friday.