GREAT FALLS, Mont., November 25, 2023 — Entering Saturday’s fourth contest against the #6 Butte Irish (8-12-0-0), the #4 Great Falls Americans (12-9-0-0) own a 2-1 record against their Montana foes.
With Great Falls’ (4-3) win on Friday against the Irish and the Badlands (SD) Sabres setback to the top-ranked Gillette Wild, 5-3, the Americans, at least for the moment, are back in the No.4 spot in the updated NA3HL Frontier Division standings while the Sabres dropped to the fifth seed.
On Friday in Great Falls, the Americans, and Irish traded goals throughout and the host team eventually came away with a 4-3 victory and their third consecutive win after starting the month of November with three losses to the #2 Helena Bighorns (16-2-0-0). Last week, the Americans won two home games against the Sheridan (WY) Hawks to re-start the win streak. Masen Kerr, Dmitri Kuleshov, Tariq Khan and Ty O’Bey put in the goals for the winning team and Kaden Ryhder survived in the net with his seventh victory of the season by swatting away 29 shots.
After this game, both teams will not meet again until the weekend of January 5-6, 2024, in Butte, Montana.
The #3 Great Falls Americans needed three second period goals to earn the 3-1 win and sweep the #6 Butte Irish and move up to third in the Frontier Division standings on Saturday evening in Great Falls. Sebe Perez, Dmitri Kuleshov and Ty O’Bey racked up the goals for the Americans. Former Great Falls American Patrick Crooks prevented the shutout for Butte.
Great Falls took twice as many shots (24-12) than Butte and both squads had one minor penalty each and both defenses prevented their opponents from scoring before the first intermission.
Patrick Crooks secured his 16th goal for the Irish off the stick of teammate Westin Villers 1:46 into the second stanza for the 1-0 lead. Sebe Perez, who along with Zac Orwig came over last weekend in a trade with the Yellowstone (WY) Quake, got the Americans offense going with the game-tying score by driving down the lane eleven minutes later for his first goal of the year. Zac Orwig and Ty Brander each assisted. Perez also played in his 100th career junior hockey game tonight. Butte’s defense allowed the Americans to score twice more before the period expired. Dmitri Kuleshov added a short-handed goal with Ty O’Bey and Phil Harrell assisting and Ty O’Bey chipped in his 15th goal with 68 seconds left. Phil Harrell and Aaron James provided the assists on Great Falls’ third scoring drive of the evening. Each squad scored while the other team was in the penalty box.
The third period came and went without any team scoring. Both squads were able to combine for 19 shots as both goaltenders redirected all the shots.
Five of the ten combined (minor) infractions occurred in the second stanza. Great Falls tallied one goal on six power play attempts and Butte went 1-for-4.
The Americans moved up two spots in two days in the NA3HL Frontier Division standings. The #1 Gillette (WY) Wild swept the Bozeman Ice Dogs this weekend and fell to fourth place while Great Falls climbed to the No. 3 slot after Saturday’s win.
Ryan Stowe (5-2-0-0) was near perfect as he allowed just one second period goal get by him. The Calgary, Alberta, Canada native ended the night with 25 saves. Butte utilized both Nicholas Ulyanov and Joshua Horacek as goaltenders. Ulyanov, who calls Beaverton, Oregon home, started and accrued 24 saves in 38 minutes before Joshua Horacek relieved him. Horacek stopped all 20 shots he faced for the visitors. Ulyanov fell to 2-1 on the season.
NOTES: Americans newly acquired forward Sebe Perez played in his 100th career junior hockey game tonight. He played 32 games with the El Paso Rhinos (2021-22), 65 games with the Yellowstone Quake (2021-23), and three games so far with Great Falls.
Ty O’Bey was the Frontier Division “Star of the Week” ending on November 19th for his play against the Sheridan (WY) Hawks. The Ashland, Wisconsin native had six points (2 goals, 4 assists) over two games. Teammate Dmitri Kuleshov received Frontier Division “Star of the Week” Honorable Mention for his four-goal performance in Friday’s 7-2 romp over the Hawks. Congrats to Ty and Dmitri.
In this week’s “Baldy’s Puck Drop” Newsletter, Americans team owner Matt Leaf has a player profile of team captain forward Dmitri Kuleshov, sponsor information, and upcoming Americans events.
FRONTIER DIVISION UPDATE: After allowing one Badlands (SD) Sabres (9-7-2-2) goal in the first period, the #1 Gillette (WY) Wild (20-1-0-1), added one goal in the middle period and three more in the third for a 4-1 victory and their 20th win of the season. Jacob Guitard, Zach Lebens, Wylee Gladen and Adam Severson put the puck in the ne for the winning side. Carter Kilen got the scoring started in the first for the Sabres. Weston Gerke (6-0-0-0) kept his win streak alive and prevented his first loss by swatting away 34 of the 35 shots sent by the Sabres offense. Despite getting 52 saves, Badlands goalie Hunter Oger fell to 1-4-1-1.
The #2 Helena Bighorns (17-2-0-0) won the battle with the #4 Bozeman Ice Dogs (11-10-0-1) at Helena’s Steed Arena by posting a 9-7 win on Saturday for the weekend sweep. Both teams combined for seven goals each in the second and third frames. Gavin Barr, Jason Hammett, and Dylan Cunningham scored two goals each for the Bighorns. Mason Czarnecki scored a hat trick (three goals) while teammate Spencer Wilkinson lit up the lamp twice in the final period for the Ice Dogs. Malik Johnson gathered his first win against Bozeman and ran his record to 6-0-0-0 by acquiring 27 saves. Matthew Ryynanen (7-8-0-1) made 56 saves and is now 0-3 against the Bighorns.
The Sheridan (WY) Hawks, seventh in the Frontier Division (6-14-1-1), blanked the #8 Yellowstone (WY) Quake (0-19-1-0) in the third period, 4-0 to come out with a 6-2 win inside Whitney Rink in the M&M’s Center, the Hawks home arena. Daniil Viscu led both teams with two goals for Sheridan. Austin Blackner and Leo Carter scored in the first and second periods, respectively, for the winless Quake. Sheridan outshot Yellowstone, 76-29. Tyler Ouren, in his first season with Sheridan, is now 3-3-0-0 in eight games. The Minnesota goalie finished with 27 saves. Owen Reeve, who had registered 70 saves, picked up his second loss (0-2-0-0) of the season for Yellowstone.
In December, the Americans travel to Bozeman, Montana for a date with the Ice Dogs on Friday, December 1st and a two-game series in Cody, Wyoming to play the #8 Yellowstone Quake (Dec. 8-9). Great Falls and the rest of the NA3HL teams will all meet in Blaine, Minnesota for the 2023 NA3HL Showcase (December 17-19), where teams will play other teams not in their division. The schedule and times will be announced by the NA3HL soon. After the Christmas break, the Americans will travel to Butte, Montana for two games against the Irish on January 5-6 before Great Falls returns to the friendly confines of the Great Falls Ice Plex for two games against the Bozeman Ice Dogs on January 12-13.
