Nationals home to face Helena tonight

It will be a busy Thanksgiving weekend for the Glacier Nationals, who will play not one but two difficult opponents in divisional play in the Frontier Division of the North American Tier 3 Hockey League.

The Nationals (2-13-1) are fresh off their upset of Great Falls last Friday on the road, will welcome the Helena Bighorns (12-4) to the Havre Ice Dome tonight. Then, they will travel Saturday to take on the Billings Bulls. The action tonight will get underway at 8 p.m. On Saturday, the first puck will drop at 7:30 p.m.

Tonight's matchup against the Big Horns will mark the fifth time the two teams have faced off, with Helena winning each of the four previous meetings, including an 8-0 victory by the Bighorns last Saturday in Helena.

The Nationals were able to get to take the Bighorns into overtime back on Oct. 13 but in the four games they have played, Helena has outscored the Nationals 25-3. One thing the Nationals will need to do is focus on containing Helena forward Jay Forbes, who has four goals against Glacier, three of them coming in a hat-trick last Saturday night.

Nick Trefry and Justin Provencher have each given the Nationals trouble as well with three goals apiece. But, as much as the Helena offense has dominated the Nationals this season, their defense has been even better.

The Bighorns have a very strong defense that is headlined by its spectacular goaltending led by Alex Kruger, who has two victories and given up just one goal in two starts against Glacier this season. Grant Martens also has a shutout victory to his credit against the Nationals, while Mac Alboreo gave up two goals to Glacier in an overtime win earlier this season.

The Nationals have struggled to score goals this season but have gotten a recent spark from Joshua Larson, who leads the team with five goals and scored the game-winner against Great Falls last Friday.

Tyler McMahon will also play a key role for the Nationals as he is just one of two Nationals to have scored goals against Helena this season. The other was Karson Frisk.

Ryan Lund will likely be in net for Glacier. Thus far this season, Lund has a goals against average of over four and a total record of 1-8. He is 0-2 against the Bighorns.

On Saturday, the Nationals will be back on the road when they head to Centennial Ice Arena to face the Billings Bulls. Billings owns a 4-0 record over the Nationals this season, with each of their wins coming by at least two goals.

If the Nationals are going to get their first road victory of the season, they will need to shut down Alex Lundstrom and Steven Thompson of Billings, who each have three goals and four assists against Glacier this season.

Cole Semchack will be in the net for the Bulls, who compares favorably to Lund for the Nationals. In three starts against Glacier, Semchack has a 3-0 record and given up just six goals for a goals against average of two per game.

Glacier is currently sixth of seven in the Frontier Standings with seven points, while Helena and Billings are second and fourth, respectively.

After Saturday, the Nationals will host the Americans in the Havre Ice Dome on Dec.5 before heading off the NA3HL Showcase in Blaine, Minnesota on Dec.7.