NOTE: A Special Thanks to Dustin Bauer for providing the photos.
GREAT FALLS, Mont., February 14, 2024 — Love was in the air at the Great Falls Ice Plex during a special Wednesday (Valentine’s) night contest as the top-ranked Helena Bighorns made the 90-mile trip to challenge the #4 Great Falls Americans in the first of three head-to-head games this week featuring both NA3HL squads.
Great Falls (18-21-1-0) is currently in fourth place in the Frontier Division and hoping to try to pull off an upset this week with their three-game series against the Bighorns. Forward Ty O’Bey leads coach Greg Sears’ squad with 24 goals and 46 points while Dmitri Kuleshov had a team-high 16 assists.
The Bighorns have been dominating the NA3HL Frontier Division standings all season long as they have a 39-2-0-0 overall record with three weeks remaining in the 2023-24 NA3HL junior hockey regular season. In their five straight victories over Great Falls, they have outscored the Americans, 28-5. Braden (33 goals) and Dylan Cunningham and Gavin Barr each have 42 assists apiece to lead Helena. Last week, they picked up former Butte Irish standouts Patrick Crooks and Carson Streich. Crooks, played with the Americans earlier in his career, now leads the team in points scored (60).
The National Anthem was performed via the trumpet by Kurt Muellar before the rivalry game tonight.
The Great Falls Americans offense could not break through the Helena Bighorns defense, and it cost them a 4-1 setback to the top-ranked squad in the NA3HL’s Frontier Division during Wednesday’s action at the Great Falls Ice Plex.
Helena’s Cai Robinson and Gavin Barr each scored for the visitors while Sam Duehlmeier of the Americans lit up the lamp once during the first twenty minutes. Robinson tenth goal (short-handed) came with eight minutes remaining. Great Falls evened the score (1-1) when Austin Trout and Garrett Driscoll earned the helpers for the Sam Duehlmeier score three minutes after Helena’s first scoring drive. Gavin Barr broke the tie (2-1) for the Bighorns with 1:43 remaining with assists coming from Braden and Owen Ramsay. Helena took 20 of the 24 total shots after twenty minutes of play.
The Bighorns increased their lead to 3-1 when Hunter Coulombe put the biscuit in the basket set up by Garrett Bogan and Tim Mattingly. The first goal of the middle period occurred within the first two minutes. The next eighteen minutes went fast without any scoring until the final 15 seconds when Helena’s Owen Gruener snuck in a goal over Great Falls netminder Noah Van Herik for the 4-1 advantage after two stanzas. Cai Robinson and Jack Lambert collected the assists.
The scoreless third frame saw two minor infractions called on the Bighorns and twenty combined shots-on-goal.
Helena and Great Falls totaled five power play opportunities, but none were successful.
The Bighorns offense overpowered the home team in the shots-on-goal category, 61-14 with ten of the Americans shots coming after the first period.
Jesse Schindel won his second game against Great Falls and is still undefeated in the net at 13-0-0-0. The Lethbridge, Alberta native registered 13 saves in the victory. Great Falls netminder Noah Van Herik played in his fifth game and suffered his second loss (0-2-0-0). The Japanese netminder stopped 57 of 61 shots from getting into the net.
