Ice Hawks split with Bruins in makeup games

COVID-19 has left no sport safe from interruption, and that includes high school and youth hockey.

This past weekend, the Havre Ice Hawks high school hockey team had their games with the Helena Bighorns postponed because of positive cases in the Helena program, but in a twist of fate, that allowed the Ice Hawks to make up games against Missoula that were postponed last month for the same reasons.

So Saturday night, the Ice Hawks squared off against the Bruins in the Havre Ice Dome and came away with a 6-5 win. The game was tied at 1-1 after Michael Emge scored for the Ice Hawks in the first period. The second period would also end tied as Missoula scored twice but the Ice Hawks countered with goals by Tavish McLean and Kaine Black. Missoula would then go up 5-3 with early goals in the third, but Havre went on a scoring binge from there.

First, Connor Moomey put one in to make the score 5-4, and less than two minutes later, senior Jocelyn Staples tied the game. And in just another two minutes, Emge finished things off with a game-winning goal on an assist from Moomey.

It was an exciting win for the Ice Hawks, who got 30 shots on goal, while Clara Holland saved 27 Missoula shots.

The two teams returned to the ice Sunday morning for a rematch, but it was Missoula who got the better of the Ice Hawks in round two. Jacob Herring scored for Havre in the first period, but Missoula scored four times to lead 4-1. The Ice Hawks answered with another Herring goal and a short-handed goal from Black, but they still trailed 6-3 after two. In the third, McLean found the back of the net, but Missoula added three more goals to cruise to the win.

Havre's offense struggled Sunday as they managed just 17 shots, while Missoula got 35 on Holland, who saved 27.

The home split left the Ice Hawks with a 5-9 record. They travel to Bozeman for a pair of games this weekend against the Icedogs.