Nationals set for a pair of Frontier Division rematches

On the final day of 2016, the Glacier Nationals lost to the Helena Bighorns. And in their first game of 2017, the Nationals will have a chance to avenge that loss.

Glacier, which has two games on tap for this weekend, will host Helena Friday night at 8 inside the Havre Ice dome, before traveling to Great Falls to take on the Great Falls Americans Saturday. First puck with drop at 7:30 p.m.

While the Nationals lost to Helena 4-1 on New Year’s Eve, the game was more competitive than some of the earlier matchups between the two teams. In all, Glacier is 0-6 against both Helena and Great Falls entering the weekend. The Nationals are also on a 22-game winless streak.

In terms of the Frontier Division playoff race, both games will have some meaning as Helena and Great Falls are both in the playoff hunt. The Bighorns are currently on the outside looking of the playoffs. They are sixth in the division and only the top four teams make it.

Helena has 21 points, which is behind Missoula, the fourth-place team with a 34. Yellowstone leads the division with 49 points and Great Falls is second with 45, while Gillette is third with 43. Glacier sits in last with three points, but still within range of seventh-place Billings, which has nine points.

However, if the Nationals are going to get any points in the standings this weekend, they will need to find a way to start scoring goals. In their previous nine games, they have scored multiple goals just once and have been shutout four times. If the offense is to improve, the Nationals will need to get players like leading scorer Gavin Cline and fellow forward Lindos Beard to increase their production.

Cline currently leads the team in overall points with eight goals and seven assists Beard has four goals and six assists. Rookies Kevin Bird and Hayden Moistner are also developing as offensive threats, while Logan Kraft, Brandon Huntington and Matt Baerg also contribute on the offensive end of the ice.

On the back end, the Nationals have gotten some solid play from Zach Houck, who has goal and a team-high nine assists. Other key defensemen for Glacier are Josh Kirk, Kade Friede and Brendan Echelbarger. There are also a number of options available in net as Jeremiah Clark, Will Langstaff and Brendan Schultz.

If the Nationals were to win one of these two games, it would seem the game against Helena would be a better bet. The Bighorns have a goal differential of minus 49 and are sixth in both goals scored and allowed. The Americans, on the other hand, have allowed just 59 goals total, a figure that leads the division. They have also found the net 158 times, second to only Yellowstone.

The action will get underway for Glacier Friday night inside the Havre Ice Dome at 8. The team will finish off the weekend Saturday in Great Falls at 7:30 p.m.