Glacier comes home

The old saying is that there is no place like home. And after a five-game road trip, that saying may come true for the Glacier Nationals, who are looking to end a six-game winless streak.

The Nationals, who compete in the Frontier Division of the North American Tier 3 Hockey League, will return to the site of their first and only victory of the season — the Havre Ice Dome, where they will host the Billings Bulls on Saturday night. The first puck will drop at 7:30 p.m.

The Nationals (1-8-3) currently sit at sixth place in the Frontier Division with five points, three points ahead of last place Bozeman. Billings (6-4), on the other hand, which owns three victories over Glacier this season by the scores of 5-3, 7-3 and 2-0, is tied with Helena for third with 12 points.

The Bulls trail only the Great Falls Americans, who are 11-0 on the season and lead the Frontier with 22 points, and Gillette, which is currently sitting in second place with a 7-4 record and a total of 14 points

At season’s end, the top four will make the Frontier playoffs. But, at this point, the Nationals aren’t thinking about the postseason, they are thinking about getting their first win since they knocked off the Yellowstone Quake, 3-2 in overtime back Oct. 4.

Despite being winless since, the Nationals have earned three overtime losses, which is enough to earn a point in the standings. And last weekend against the Quake, Glacier was defeated in an overtime shootout on back-to-back nights, earning the Nationals two points.

If the Nationals are going to have a chance of ending their winless streak against the Bulls, they will need to contain Tristian Henrichs, who leads Billings in goals with 10 and also has four assists, as well as T.J. Theodosopoulos, who also has 14 points this season thanks to six goals and eight assists. Billings forwards Ian Wiljanen and Alex Lundstrom are also threats to score each time they are on the ice and have racked up 13 points and 12 points respectively so far this season.

When it comes to scoring goals, the Nationals will turn to Sam Shaheen, Karson Frisk and Joshua Larson, who are each tied for the team lead with three goals apiece in the 2014-15 campaign. Larson is a relatively new addition for the Nationals, playing in just four of the team’s 12 games, but his impact has already been felt as he found the back of the net three times last weekend in two games against Yellowstone.

The other key matchup will be between the pipes, where the Bulls boast one of the most accomplished goaltenders in the Frontier in Cole Semchak, who has a 4-3 overall record that includes three victories over the Nationals. He also has a goals-against average of just 2.66 per game and a save percentage of over 92 percent. The Nationals will counter with either Ryan Lund, who is 0-5 with a pair of shootout losses and a goals-against average of 4.26 or Nolan Slager, who is 1-3-1 with a goals-against average of 4.75.

Saturday’s game against the Bulls is the first of a four-game home stand for the Nationals, which will give them an opportunity to play in front of their home fans and try to get back into playoff contention. The Nationals and Bulls will get their Frontier Division matchup underway tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m.