Nationals hit the road for two with the Quake

The Glacier Nationals have had a rough go of it recently with four-straight losses. And once again, they are on the road this week, hoping a change of scenery brings about a change in fortune.

Yet, the schedule does Glacier no favors this week as the Nationals had to travel all the way to Cody, Wyoming, for tonight's game against the Yellowstone Quake, which is the first of back-to-back games in Frontier Division play. Tonight's game and Saturday night's game will both begin at 7:30 p.m.

After four consecutive defeats, the Nationals find themselves at the bottom of the Frontier with a 2-10-1 record and just five points to their resume. Yellowstone, on the other hand, has been one of the Frontier's best teams this season and after winning eight of its first 13 games (8-4-1) the Quake sits in second place with 17 points behind only first-place Great Falls, which has 20.

Currently, Helena is third with 14, Bozeman is fourth with 13, Gillette is fifth with 10 and Billings is sixth with six. The top four teams make the playoffs, which is why if Glacier is going to make run at the postseason, it needs to turn things around in a hurry.

One thing that the Nationals do have going for them is an improving offense that seems to get better each and every week. Tyler McMahon is the team's leading scorer with 13 goals and will look to continue his productive season this weekend against the Quake. Yet, Marvin Simmons has also stepped up as an offensive force recently along with five goals along with Colin Schieman, who is tied with Simmons for second on the team with five goals to his credit.

The Quake will counter with one of the more balanced offensive attacks in the division and it's one where five players have scored at least five goals. Tony Dahlberg leads Yellowstone with nine goals, while Max Doner and Curtis Greenbush each have six.

Yet, the thing that really makes Yellowstone tough to handle is its defense. In 13 games, the Quake have surrendered just 34 goals. The Nationals have allowed 79 in the same number of games and after scoring just 38 goals, they have a goal differential of minus 41 coming into the weekend. The Quake boast a goal differential of plus 13.

Yellowstone has two very steady goaltenders in Lance Knudson, who is 4-2-1 with a goals against average of 2.70 and a save percentage north of 92 and Derek LaCombe, who has been outstanding with a 4-2 mark, a goals against average of 2.52 and a save percentage of 94.1.

The Nationals will counter with Raymond Smith (5.01 GAA), Ryail Purdy (4.57 GAA), Ben Perone (5.93 GAA) or Mikhail Pahrebets (6.24 GAA). Purdy is the only one with a winning record as he is 1-0 in three total games played this season.

The Nationals and Quake will do battle both tonight and Saturday in Riley Arena in Cody, Wyoming. First puck will drop both nights at 7:30 p.m.