Americans Come up Short Against the Bozeman Ice Dogs

Photo credit Michael Noel Photography The Great Falls Americans (0-2-0-0) faced the Bozeman Ice Dogs (2-0-0-0) for the second game of the season on Saturday night to conclude the Americans weekend doubleheader at the Great Falls Ice Plex. How did Saturday’s opponents do in their first game on Friday? The Americans came up short (8-3 loss) against the Helena Bighorns in Great Falls. Meanwhile, Bozeman traveled to Butte, Montana, for their first road game against the Irish and easily defeated the Butte NA3HL franchise, 8-1. The Bozeman Ice Dogs scored three consecutive goals over the first two periods and prevented a Great Falls Americans comeback by posting a 3-2 victory at the Great Falls Ice Plex on Saturday evening in Great Falls, Montana. Great Falls prevented the shutout by scoring two goals in the final nine minutes. Jace Griffin broke the scoreless tie with 3:48 remaining in the first period for the Ice Dogs. Lex Steckelberg and Avery Martin were responsible for Bozeman’s lone goal after twenty minutes of action. Despite 15 shot attempts by the Americans, they could not find a way to get the puck in the net. The visiting team accrued eight shots and led 1-0 before the first intermission. The Ice Dogs stretched their lead to 3-0 after two periods. Bozeman led 1-0 until there was 6:56 remaining when Barrett Becker and Bozeman native Sam Trufant earned assists on a score by Matthew Stamp. Stamp also scored once in Friday’s matchup with Butte, while Becker collected his third overall assist (two against Butte) of the 2025-26 junior hockey season. Bozeman received their third scoring drive of the night less than two minutes later when Alex Brello, playing his first season with the Ice Dogs, lit up the lamp for his second goal (one against Butte) in two games. Sam Trufant garnered his second assist of the game. The penalty-free period saw Great Falls take just ten shots while their opponent finished with 15. The third period saw Great Falls attempt a comeback. First, Cooper Clouse (Fargo, ND) got the Americans on the scoreboard with his second goal of the season, with assists going to Jaxon Savage and Gavin Denis with nine minutes remaining. The 3-1 score would remain until the final 42 seconds when Jaxon Savage (Kenora, Ontario, Canada) scored his first tally in a Great Falls uniform. Gavin Denis got his second assist of the game (third overall), and Tallon Caron also assisted. Bozeman won 3-2, and the comeback fell short for the Americans. The host team took 25 shots before the second intermission and finished their first challenge against the Ice Dogs with 45. Bozeman ended the game with 34, including 15 shots in the middle stanza. Great Falls and Bozeman combined for just three penalties in the first period, with no penalties called in the second and third frames. Jace Griffin, Matthew Stamp, and Alex Brello all scored once for the undefeated Frontier Division team. Sam Trufant tacked on two assists for head coach Mike Perkins’ squad. Cooper Clouse and Jaxon Savage added the two lamplighters for Great Falls, while Gavin Denis assisted on the two third-period scores. Jack Ryan moved his record to 2-0-0-0 with his weekend sweep in the net for Bozeman. The Denver, Colorado, goaltender had 43 saves in his first appearance against the Americans. Cole Murphy (New Prague, MN) got the start in his first game with Great Falls. He stopped 31 shots in his first setback (0-1-0-0).

Americans Come up Short Against the Bozeman Ice Dogs

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