Quake sweeps Nationals

The Glacier Nationals of the North American Tier 3 Hockey League, were hoping to end their four-game losing skid this past weekend. But, unfortunately, they ran into a buzz saw in Cody, Wyoming in the form of the Yellowstone Quake.

The Quake, who came into the weekend in second place in the Frontier Division, manhandled the Nationals in back-to-back games by the scores of 7-0 and 7-2. Glacier has now lost six consecutive games and sit at 2-12-1 on the season. The Nationals are currently last in the Frontier with a total of just five points.

Jake Dickison proved to be a force for the Quake in the first game between the two teams Friday night, as he scored twice in the first period and once in the second to notch a hat-trick in the victory. Yellowstone scored three times in the first, plus twice more in the second and third as it outshot the Nationals by a total of 53-32.

Lance Knudson got the win for the Quake after stopping 19 of the 19 shot attempts he faced. Knudson combined with Evan Eriksmoen to produce a shutout, after Eriksmoen took over in the third period and preserved the shutout with 13 saves. Mikhail Pahrebets was stuck with the loss after surrendering seven goals. He did manage to finish the game with 46 saves.

On Saturday night, the Nationals were hoping to give themselves a better chance of winning, but Yellowstone had other ideas. The Quake scored four first-period goals, two coming from Nicholas Elliot to grab a 4-0 lead after the opening period.

The Nationals did finally show some life in the second period, when Brandon Huntington scored to trim the Quake advantage to 4-1. Yet, before the period ended, the Quake had scored again and pushed their lead to 5-1.

The Quake added two more goals less than two minutes into the third period to make the score 7-1. However, Glacier would add another goal before the night was through as William Bostwick scored with just over four minutes left to make the final score 7-2.

Knudson got the win for the second straight night by saving 24 of the 25 shot attempts he faced. Eriksmoen also finished with 12 saves and one goal surrendered. Raymond Smith suffered the loss for Glacier as he gave up five goals in 43 shot attempts. Pahrebets allowed two goals in third period.

The Nationals will be back in action this Friday when they open a two-game set against the Bozeman Ice Dogs. The two teams will play Friday and Saturday night in the Havre Ice Dome. Both games will start at 7:30 p.m.