Nationals home for two with Quake

It's been awhile since the Glacier Nationals of the North American Tier 3 Hockey League have gotten a chance to play at home, but this weekend, that chance will finally come against the Yellowstone Quake.

The Quake, who are also in the Frontier Division along with the Nationals are right in the thick of the playoff race as they head to Havre for back-to-back games against the Nationals beginning tonight inside the Havre Ice Dome. The first puck will drop at 8 p.m. Saturday's game will get underway at 7:30 p.m.

The Quake come will come into the weekend with an impressive 25-7-3 record, which is good enough for second place in the Frontier behind only Great Falls. The Quake have 53 points compared to 54 for the Americans.

The Nationals, on the other hand, haven't won a game or even earned a point in the Frontier standings since October. Their overall record is 2-31-2, and they have just six points, which is well behind the 20 points of sixth-place Billings.

So far this season, the teams have met four times on the ice with the Quake winning all four contests by a combined score of 35-6, notching victories of 7-0, 7-2, 13-2 and 8-2. The most recent win for the Quake over the Nationals came Dec. 5 in Havre.

Obviously, when you are outscored by 29 goals over four games, there is plenty of room for improvement. Yet in terms of slowing down the Quake, who are an offensive juggernaut, it is going to be much easier said than done.

All year long the Nationals have been outshot by their opponents at about a 2-to-1 margin and if that happens this weekend, it will spell bad news for Glacier. That's because the Quake boast a ridiculous 11 players who have reached double digits in goals. The Nationals have two.

The top scorer for the Quake is Kelly Reed, who leads the team with 21 goals but also has assists to boot. Max Doner has also contributed with 19 goals for Yellowstone, while Nick Greene has 17.

And as a potent offense wasn't enough, the Quake also have a dominating defense, which is led by goalie Lance Knudson, one of the top netminders in the Frontier. In 22 games, he has a record of 14-5-2 as well as a goals-against average of 2.48.

Tyler McMahon was the top scorer for the Nationals but he is no longer a part of the active roster. So that role has now fallen to Collin Schieman, who leads the team among active players with 12 goals. He also has 13 assists to give him a total of 25 points for the season. The other potent offensive threat for Glacier is William Bostwick. He has 10 goals and 10 assists in 35 games.

The goaltending situation has been a struggle all year for the Nationals and they have yet to find a consistent presence they can count on in net. For now, Ben Perone, Mikhail Pahrebets, Raymond Smith and Kevin Hale will all share opportunities. Perone is the only goalie on the roster with a win under his belt this season.

The Nationals and Quake will kick off their doubleheader tonight at 8. It will conclude Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.