Glacier visits Great Falls

It has been eight games since the Glacier Nationals have tasted victory and if they are going to find a way to get back in the winner’s circle, it will need to come against the first-place Great Falls Americans.

The Nationals and Americans, who each play in the Frontier Division of the North American Tier 3 Hockey League, will square off this weekend Saturday in Great Falls. Saturday night’s contest with kick off at 7:30 p.m.

Coming into the game between close rivals, the Nationals are 2-13-2 and are tied for last place in the Frontier with just six points. Great Falls, on the other hand, is 13-4 on the young season and leads the way in the seven-team division with 26 points.

The Americans and Nationals have already played twice and both times it was Great Falls that came out on top 12-1 and 5-1 victories. Great Falls comes into the weekend boasting one of the best defenses in the division, allowing less than two goals per game, while on offense the Americans score more than 4.5 per night.

The defensive end is the stark difference between the two teams as the Nationals have allowed 101 goals in the same number of games that the Americans have allowed 32. That means Glacier is surrendering more than five goals per game, while scoring just over two per game.

One player on the Nationals that hasn’t had problems scoring this season has been Tyler McMahon, who scored against last weekend in an overtime loss to Gillette and on the year, has a team-high 14. Collin Schieman has been another offensive threat for Glacier with a total of six goals. Marvin Simmons also has five.

Brendan Jester, a former member of the Nationals, is the leading scorer for the Americans this season with 10 goals. Richards Bernhards is second on the team with eight and Adam Apangalook is third with seven.

Great Falls has an advantage when it comes to scoring the puck and, against the Nationals, they will also have a big edge in net as the Americans are blessed with one of the top goaltenders in the division in Lauren Massie, who is 6-3 with a goals against average of 1.76 and a save percentage of 93. Jake Stefan is 6-1 and has also been outstanding with a goals against average of 2.14 and a save percentage of 92.5.

Mikhail Pahrebets has been the top goaltender for the Nationals this season and will keep getting the nod despite a record of 0-7-1 and a goals against average of 5.67. He also has a save percentage of 87. Ben Perone and Raymond Smith are the other Nationals goalies and each could see time against Great Falls.

The Nationals and the Americans will play Saturday night in Great Falls. First puck will drop at 7:30 p.m.