The Great Falls Americans (23-13-1-1, 48 pts.) have had a difficult time this season picking up more than one victory against the Bozeman Ice Dogs (18-19-1-1, 38 pts.).
Prior to tonight’s contest, the Americans’ lone victory in four encounters occurred on November 15th, where they earned a 4-1 decision over the Ice Dogs in Great Falls. Three different Americans players got in the scoring column, led by Tallon Caron’s two goals and one goal each by Reid Lezubksi and Jase Troyer. Bozeman’s Matthew Stamp lit up the lamp for the Ice Dogs in the middle frame.
The most recent encounter by these two Montana opponents was played two weeks ago on January 23rd in Great Falls. The Americans came up short in a 2-1 loss to the Ice Dogs in a game that had to finish up from a postponed contest back on December 6th due to a severe player injury. The game in January started where play was suspended with 8:30 left in the third period, with the Americans trailing 2-1. Neither team was able to find the back of the net during the remaining minutes. Devin Bruns and Avery Martin each scored once and dished out one assist for the winning side. Ethan Miller added the lone scoring drive in the second for the Americans, with helpers going to Cooper Clouse and AJ Prioli. Jack Ryan was the winning goaltender with 51 saves. Cole Murphy rejected 27 of the 29 shots in the loss for the home team.
The Americans will see the Ice Dogs once more during the regular season as both teams will clash inside Haynes Pavilion on February 21st, starting at 7:30 PM (MST).
Ethan Miller (Great Falls) outscored Bozeman’s Andrew Kaunas, 3-2, to help the Great Falls Americans to a 3-2 decision over the Bozeman Ice Dogs during Friday night’s NA3HL action inside Haynes Pavilion in Bozeman, Montana. The Americans maintain their third-place standing in the Frontier Division with their 23rd victory of the season.
The first twenty minutes concluded without any successful scoring opportunities. Great Falls and Bozeman combined for 22 shots-on-goal.
The Ice Dogs ended the scoring drought in the middle period when Bozeman natives Michael Reich and Baron Masopust each assisted on a score by Andrew Kaunas (15 goals), the second leading scorer for Bozeman behind Lex Steckelberg (26 goals). Bozeman led 1-0 with 8:34 left in the stanza with the Americans in the sin bin. Great Falls evened the game at 1-1 when Ethan Miller acquired his 25th goal off a pass from Reid Lezubski with under two minutes to go before the second intermission. Defenseman Keegan Hanson received the secondary assist. After tacking on 12 shots-on-goal in the first, the Americans added 12 more in the second frame while Bozeman was held to eight shots after taking ten in the opening period.
Great Falls’ Ethan Miller scored his second goal of the contest and 26th overall with 2:44 left in the last period of regulation to give the visiting team their first lead (2-1). Cooper Clouse added his 48th assist of the season while AJ Prioli gathered his 21st assist. The Ice Dogs answered back 33 seconds later when Andrew Kaunas netted his second goal of the game, with assists going from Jacob Harasek and Devin Bruns. The game looked like it might need an extra five-minute (overtime) period, but Ethan Miller lit up the lamp for his third goal (hat trick) for Great Falls when Fisher Hannesson and Wyatt Hanna helped create the game-winning drive with 20 seconds remaining to give the Americans their 23rd victory.
The Americans produced a dozen shots in each period to finish with 36. The host team put up 14 shots in the third to end the game with 32.
Both NA3HL Frontier Division opponents each spent ten minutes off the ice (penalties). The Ice Dogs went 1-for-3, with Andrew Kaunas’ second-period goal being the lone goal made during a power play. Great Falls squandered their two power-play chances.
Kaden Rhyder has 12 wins in the net thanks to the third goal by Ethan Miller in the final 20 seconds of regulation. The Pennsylvania goaltender improved to 12-5-0-1 on the season, including a 2-1 record when facing Bozeman. He stopped 30 of the 32 shots sent his way for his 50th win in the net as a member of the Americans hockey team. Jack Ryan (13-4-0-1) suffered his first setback to Great Falls (3-1) and his fourth regulation loss, but not before producing 33 saves in 59 minutes and 40 seconds of action.
