Bulls edge Nationals twice in the Ice Dome

The Glacier Nationals were hoping to get back into the win column this past weekend, with two games on the road against Billings, the last team they defeated. But, despite two good shots at getting a win, the Nationals failed to find the column once again.

Despite having the lead in the third period Friday and in the first period Saturday, Glacier dropped both games to the Bulls by the scores of 7-5 in Frontier Division play. The Nationals have now gone winless in 25 consecutive games, while Billings ended a 21-game winless streak of its own with the pair of wins.

The game Friday night presented the Nationals with their best shot at victory since October. Glacier came out and grabbed the lead right away with a goal by Collin Schieman just 6:53 into the game. And less than three minutes later, William Bostwick added another goal and suddenly it was 2-0 Glacier. The Bulls responded with a goal of their own, but another Glacier goal, this one coming from Tyler McMahon, gave the Nationals a 3-1 lead entering the second period.

In the second, the Nationals continued their impressive play. After getting 16 shots on goal in the first, the Nationals had 14 more in the second, which led to goals by Logan Kraft and Schieman, which gave Glacier a commanding 5-1 lead with 20 minutes to play.

Yet, in the third, things unraveled for the Nationals. Chris Nicolai scored twice in the first 4:34 on the final stanza to get the Bulls within striking distance at 5-3. Then, a goal by Mason Graves made it 5-4, before back-to-back goals by Cameron Birklid put Billings in front for the first time in the game at 6-5. Then, with just 35 seconds left, Tristian Henrich scored the clinching goal that sealed the 7-5 victory.

Gage Overby earned the win for the Bulls after stopping 45 of 50 shot attempts, while Kevin Hale got the loss for the Nationals after allowing two goals on seven shots in the third. Raymond Smith was also in net and stopped 37 of 42 shots.

On Saturday, Glacier was hoping to rebound from the heartbreak it suffered one day earlier and in the opening minutes, it looked like it would do just that. The Nationals flew out of the gates with goals from Schieman and Huntington in the first 1:10 to put Glacier ahead 2-0. Billings added a goal and that made the score 2-1 after one period.

Yet, things started to fall apart in the second period, as Billings scored four goals, two of them coming from Nicolai, while Glacier got just one from Bostwick, to take a 5-3 lead heading into the third period.

The Nationals put forth a valiant effort in the third period and after goals by Huntington and Fretheim, they were within one at 6-5 with 6:35 to play. However, it wasn't meant to be, Henrichs added an insurance goal and wrapped up the two-goal win for Billings.

Brandon Brown got the win in net for the Bulls with 56 saves on 61 shots attempted by Glacier, while Hale got the loss for the Nationals after allowing seven goals on 62 shot attempts.

The Nationals will travel to Gillette, Wymoning, for a pair of games this weekend.