Glacier goes to Gillette

The Glacier Nationals finally broke through at home last Friday night. After a lengthy winless streak, the Nationals topped the Billings Bulls to get that monkey off their back.

Ultimately, the Nationals earned a split with Billings in the Havre Ice Dome. Now however, they have to go right back on the road and face one of the best teams in the Frontier Division in the Gillette Wild. The Nationals and Wild meet tonight and Saturday night in Gillette, Wyoming.

The Wild (28-9-1) currently sit in the third place in the Frontier and have already clinched an NA3HL playoff berth. But, they trail first-place Yellowstone by just 12 points with time to spare, so they won't be taking it easy on the Nationals this weekend.

Gillette is led by forward Riley Holwenger, who has 60 points and 25 goals this season, which is 20th in the NA3HL. The Wild are a high-scoring group as well, but they also have one of the best goalies in the Frontier Division in rookie Robbie Brennan. Brennan has saved 92 percent of his shots on goal this season, and is second in the Frontier with a 2.40 goals allowed average.

So for Glacier, finding the back of the net in Gillette will be a tall order. The Nationals are dealing with quite a few injuries of late, but will look to Hayden Moistner, who has four goals and four assists to lead the way. Matt Baerg and Brandon Huntington are also scoring threats for the Nationals. Defensively, the Nationals are allowing six goals per game, while goalie Brendan Schultz is saving 89 percent of shots on goal. Schultz will need to be stout this weekend in the face of a relentless Gillette attack.

And still, the Nationals do feel like they have built some positive momentum coming off the win over Billings. And with four of their final six games following this weekend's trip to Gillette inside the Havre Ice Dome, the Nationals are hoping to finish the seasons strong.

Gillette and Glacier will meet tonight and Saturday night with both games starting at 7 p.m. Glacier is back home to host the Great Falls Americans next Friday.