Nationals drop two on the road in Bozeman

In one of its last opportunities to get back into the winner’s circle before the 2015-16 season ends, the Glacier Nationals paid a visit to Frontier Divisional rival Bozeman this past weekend, for a pair of North American Tier 3 Hockey League games.

The Nationals, whose last win came over the Ice Dogs back in October, traveled to Bozeman for back-to-back games Friday and Saturday night and, unfortunately, lost both games by the scores of 4-1 and 9-3.

In the first contest between the two teams Friday, Bozeman grabbed an early lead thanks to a goal by Elliot Hopkins. Then, the Ice Dogs added two more goals in the second period, one from Kegan Couture and another from Gunnar Mogck, which gave Bozeman a three-goal lead heading to the third and final period.

The Nationals showed some life in the third, when they trimmed the lead down to two at 3-1, following a goal from Tim VanTulnen. Yet, in the end, it wasn’t enough as the Ice Dogs added an insurance goal less than two minutes later, which helped Bozeman preserve the 4-1 victory.

Both teams struggled to get shots on goal in the game, but Stephen Frank of Bozeman was able to come away with the win in net, after stopping 13 of the 14 shots he faced. Raymond Smith, on the other hand, was given the loss for the Nationals. He allowed four goals on 18 shot attempts.

In the second game between the two NA3HL clubs, the action was fast and furious, as the two teams combined for five first-period goals. Bozeman scored the first three goals of the game to jump out to a 3-0 advantage. But the Nationals responded with goals from Collin Schieman and Brandon Huntington to make the score 3-2 after one.

Trailing by just one goal and with two periods to play, the Nationals had to feel optimistic about their chances of pulling the upset, however, Bozeman had other ideas and scored three goals in the second frame to blow the game wide open and grab a 6-2 lead.

Schieman scored again for the Nationals early in the third period to make the score 6-3. but it didn’t matter, because Glacier simply had no answer for a Bozeman attack that found the net three more times, in the final 20 minutes of play to wrap up the six-goal win.

Smith was the losing goaltender for the second straight night, as he allowed six goals on 32 shot attempts. Kevin Hale also saw time in net for Glacier and allowed three goals. For Bozeman, Benjamin Sakaria earned the win after notching 17 saves and allowing three goals over 60 minutes.

The Nationals have two games left on their schedule for the season and both of them will take place this week. Glacier will be in Helena Friday to play its last road game against the Big Horns. Then, Saturday, the Nationals will close out the season at home against Helena, inside the Havre Ice Dome.