Since the #3 Great Falls Americans (22-11-3-0) and the #7 Butte Irish (15-19-1-1) met inside the Butte Community Ice Center on January 11th where the Americans topped their Montana opponent, 4-2, Great Falls is currently on a two-game losing streak after the #7 Gillette (WY) Wild came to the Great Falls Ice Plex on January 17-18 and defeated the Americans on Friday (5-3) and getting an overtime victory on Saturday (5-4 in OT).
Meanwhile, Butte is currently 0-3-0-1 in their last four contests. The Irish fell at home to the Bozeman Ice Dogs and Great Falls Americans during the weekend of January 10-11 and then played in Rapid City, South Dakota on January 17-18 losing to the Badlands Sabres.
Great Falls was hoping to pick up their fifth victory in six head-to-head meetings this season against the Irish. Both squads will play a home-and-away series during the last weekend of the regular season on March 7-8.
The #3 Great Falls Americans ended their two-game skid by defeating the #7 Butte Irish on the road, 6-3 during Friday’s NA3HL action at the Butte Community Ice Center. The Americans rebounded after falling last weekend to the Gillette Wild at the Great Falls Ice Plex on Friday and Saturday.
During the first twenty minutes, Great Falls held a 3-2 advantage over Butte. John Lang and Jayden Rogen scored the first two goals of the game to give the visiting team a 2-0 lead. John Lang’s goal was assisted by Ty O’Bey and Cal Laggis, and Lang and Cooper Clouse assisted on Rogen’s score. Later in the stanza, the Irish evened the score with two goals 64 seconds apart when Bobby Anselmo and Toby Kerr successfully put the puck in the net. Andrew Browe and Weston Villers earned assists on both of Butte’s goals. Americans standout Ty O’Bey chipped in his 27th goal with 41 seconds remaining before the first intermission to break the tie (3-2). Chase Hapka achieved his 26th assist of the season and Blayne Jusczak added his seventh.
The Americans increased their lead by scoring twice in the second period. Great Falls forward Blake Komrofske connected on his sixth scoring play of the season with 12:02 on the clock with Keegan Hanson and Garrett Driscoll adding to their season assist totals. Gavin Denis provided the fifth goal of the contest with helpers from Americans assist leader, Garren Narvaez (31 assists) and Cal Laggis. Great Falls accumulated 19 shots in the first and 21 in the second frame. Butte accrued 17 of their 35 in the middle period.
The Irish cut scored their fourth lamplighter 14 minutes into the last period of regulation when Zachary Nimetz found the back of the net for the second time this season as Sebaquien Chlud and Malloy Lomheim set up the third scoring drive for the home team. Butte would get no closer than 5-3 when John Lang tacked on his second goal of the night (14th overall) during the final 30 seconds of the contest to seal the win for Great Falls. Ty O’Bey and Sebe Perez assisted on the final scoring opportunity for either team.
The Americans attempted 19 shots in the first and third periods to finish with 59 shots. The host team acquired 35 of their 41 shots before the second intermission.
The Americans and Irish each went 1-for-6 on power play chances and combined for 17 penalties and 70 minutes spent off the ice.
John Lang (2 goals , 1 assist) and Ty O’Bey (1 goal, 2 assists) led coach Greg Sears’ squad as they picked up their 22nd win and fifth over Butte this season. Bobby Anselmo, Toby Kerr, and Zachary Nimetz paced the Irish with one goal each while Andrew Browe and Weston Villers assisted on two scoring drives in the first period.
Kaden Rhyder now has 18 wins (18-7-1-0) in 27 appearances for the Americans. The Pennsylvania netminder recorded 38 saves as he is now 4-1 when facing the Irish this season. Nicolas Ulyanov of Butte (52 saves) fell to 0-6-0-0 including 0-3-0-0 when he started the season with the Yellowstone (WY) Quake.
FRONTIER DIVISION UPDATE: The #5 Bozeman Ice Dogs (18-14-1-1) led 1-0 after the first period against the #1 Helena Bighorns (29-3-1-1) but Helena’s offense led by Austin Uecker, Finn Theriault, and Owen Gruener outscored Bozeman, 3-1 in the second period and 2-0 in the third frame with goals made by Clint Isakson and Caden Fenstein as the 2024 National Champions upended the Ice Dogs, 5-2 inside Helena’s Steed Arena on Friday evening. Branson Appelman created 7 saves for the Bighorns as he improved to 7-1-0-0 in 38 minutes of action. Tyler Miller played the final 21 minutes in the net and stopped all nine shots for the winning side. Brett DeVincent (11-8-0-0) finished with 38 saves in 60 minutes for the Ice Dogs.
After two wins on the road last weekend against the Great Falls Americans, the #6 Gillette (WY) Wild (16-19-1-0) scored two goals in the second and third periods to blank the #8 Yellowstone (WY) Quake (1-36-1-0), 5-0 in front of their home fans in Gillette, Wyoming on Friday. Five players scored for the Wild including Tai Kontrec, Brady Johnson, Jeremiah Menger, Hudson Fisher, and Caleb Johannes. Gillette outshot the Quake, 57-24. Wylen Cambensy added his second win (2-3-0-0) with the Wild as he ended the game with 24 saves. The Quake struggled offensively as Idaho native Tucker Bayly (0-1-0-0) accumulated 52 saves in his first game with the Quake.
The most exciting game of Friday involved the #2 Sheridan (WY) Hawks (23-11-2-0) and the #4 Badlands (SD) Sabres (19-13-4-2) in Sheridan, Wyoming. Both squads scored two goals in the first frame while the Hawks grabbed a 3-2 lead before the third period. A goal by the Sabres (Thayne Coston) 96 seconds into the final period evened the score (3-3) and both clubs went without scoring the rest of the way to send it to an overtime. Vincent Leaf put the biscuit in the basket with 1:13 left in the five-minute extra period to secure the 4-3 win for the second-place squad in the Frontier Division. John Simon (10-6-0-0) made 34 saves for Sheridan while Jackson Roethler took the loss for Badlands. Roethler is now 4-5-1-0 and finished with 38 saves.
