HELENA, Mont., February 17, 2024
Photo credit: Dustin Bauer
Both rivals met on the ice three times this week with two of them taking place at the Great Falls Ice Plex. In a rare Wednesday night (February 14) contest, Helena defeated Great Falls, 4-1 with four different Bighorns players getting in on the scoring action. Gavin Barr, Hunter Coulombe, Cai Robinson and Owen Gruener putting in the goals. Sam Duehlmeier scored early for Great Falls in the first stanza with Austin Trout and Garrett Driscoll assisting. Helena’s Jesse Schindel made 13 saves in the win and Great Falls’ Noah Van Herik produced 57 saves in the loss. During Friday’s afternoon game in Great Falls, Jack Lambert and Patrick Crooks scored two goals apiece for a 7-2 victory for Helena and Ty O’Bey and Garren Narvaez each added a goal for the Americans.
The top-ranked Helena Bighorns (41-2-0-0) dominated in all aspects of their junior hockey contest against the #5 Great Falls Americans (18-23-0-1) during Saturday’s final head-to-head meeting of the season between these two rivaled NA3HL franchises.
The Bighorns, who have dominated on the scoreboard throughout the 2023-24 season, continued their dominance by leading 3-0 after the first period and outscoring the Americans, 4-2 over the final two periods for a 7-2 Saturday victory at Steed Arena in Helena, Montana.
Helena led 3-0 early in the contest with Jack Lambert, Finn Theriault, and Jason Hammett getting the puck by the Americans goaltender. Both offenses combined for just 23 shots-on-goal.
Great Falls trimmed Helena’ lead to 3-2 with goals from Aiden Kennedy and Ty O’Bey within the first eight minutes of the second stanza. Hayden Grabas, Cal Laggis, Ty Brander, and Luke Pizzey added the helpers. Later in the period, Cai Robinson and Jason Hammett added two more tallies for the home team. Patrick Crooks assisted on both scoring drives while Jack Lambert and Tim Mattingly also acquired one assist each. Helena took a 5-2 advantage into the locker room for the second intermission.
In the third, Helena outshot Great Falls, 26-6 with two successful scoring opportunities going to Tim Mattingly and Camden Cunningham early in the final frame.
Eight total infractions were called by NA3HL officials during the sixty minute contest. Two of Helena’s seven goal came while the Americans were in the penalty box with the host team going 2-for-3 on the power play. Five power play chances went unanswered by the Americans offense.
The Bighorns took 43 of their 68 shots after the first period. Great Falls finished with 13 of their 19 before the second intermission.
Tim Mattingly (1 goal, 3 assists), Jack Lambert and Cai Robinson (1 goal, 1 assist) and three assists by Patrick Crooks led the charge for Helena. Ty O’Bey and Aiden Kennedy each scored for the visiting squad.
Jesse Schindel (14-0-0-0) swatted away 17 shots for the winning side. Noah Van Herik started in the net for Great Falls creating nine saves in 12 minutes before Anyon Bennett took his place. Bennett had a busy night getting 52 saves in 47 minutes. Van Herik now has four losses in seven appearances.
FRONTIER DIVISION UPDATE: The #6 Sheridan (WY) Hawks (15-24-2-2) kept their Saturday contest against the #2 Gillette (WY) Wild (38-4-0-1) close through the first two periods, trailing 2-1. The third period came and Gillette was determined to get their 38th victory of the season by outscoring their rivals, 4-1. Adam Severson and Isaac Young combined for four of the six goals for the playoff-bound Wild. Tanner Freed scored both goals for Sheridan preventing the shutout. Gillette’s Cole Wheaton won his 13th game (13-3-0-1) by redirecting 34 shots. AIdan Knox saw his record drop to 2-6-0-0. Despite allowing six goals, he managed 53 saves.
In the stat sheet, the #3 Bozeman Ice Dogs (28-14-0-1) and the #7 Butte Irish (16-26-1-0) each attempted 52 shots, but it was the Ice Dogs who topped the Irish on the scoreboard, 4-1. Bodie Shepardson (Ice Dogs) led both teams in scoring with two goals while Kazen Stineff tallied one for Butte. Isaac Weatherford (Bozeman) picked up his second win (2-1-0-0) in ten appearances for the visitors by gathering 51 saves. Nicholas Ulyanov (48 saves) is now 3-2-0-0 for the Irish in his first season with the team.
NOTES: Forwards Dmitri Kuleshov and Sebe Perez received Honorable Mention honors for the weekly “NA3HL Stars of the Week” for the week ending February 11, 2024, for their play last week against the Badlands (SD) Sabres and Gillette (WY) Wild.
NEXT CONTEST: #5 Great Falls will embark on a journey to Rapid City, South Dakota for three game this week. Roosevelt Park Ice Arena will be the site for their three contests against the #4 Badlands (SD) Sabres on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (February 23-25). This series will likely determine if the Americans or Sabres continue on to the postseason with a few points separating them.
