By Bill Speltz, 406 MT Sports Staff (Missoulian Sports Editor)
November 20, 2020
HELENA — The Missoula Jr. Bruins hockey team ran into a buzzsaw in unbeaten Great Falls Friday afternoon, dropping a 4-2 decision at the Helena Ice Arena.
The game was moved from Missoula to Helena due to stringent COVID-19 guidelines in the Garden City. The Americans boosted their record to 11-0 while the Jr. Bruins fell to 7-3 with two overtime losses in the NA3 Hockey League’s Frontier Division.
Missoula was the better team early, jumping to a 2-0 lead in the first period. Pablo Frank scored a power-play goal on assists from Cayce Balk and Trevor Prince and Liam Bland added another goal with less than 5 minutes left in the period, using assists from Balk and Prince.
Missoula never scored again. Great Falls cut its deficit to 2-1 on a goal by Garret Weisenburger midway through the second period. The Americans then finished strong, scoring three goals on Jr. Bruins goalie Maxim Currie in the third period.
Micah Serino leveled the score at 2-2 early in the third period, with assists from Nick Silance and Patrick Crooks. Alex Jackson scored the go-ahead goal, short-handed, at 7:52 on feeds from Connor Doyle and Tommy Janes. Jackson then added an insurance goal with 3 seconds left.
The Jr. Bruins and Americans will have a rematch Saturday night in Great Falls.
Story Courtesy: 406 MT Sports: 406MTSports.com: Unbeaten Great Falls Americans skate past Missoula Jr. Bruins (November 20, 2020)