By Kevin Scott
GREAT FALLS, Mont., March 2, 2014 — After a slow start by both the Billings Bulls and Great Falls Americans, the home team was able to capitalize in overtime as Dylan Garton’s power play goal lifted the Americans to their 34th victory of the season with a 3-2 win over Billings on Sunday afternoon in front of 430 fans at the Great Falls Ice Plex.
In the opening period, both offenses were denied any goals as great defensive efforts were displayed by both teams to keep the game scoreless after twenty minutes of game time. Great Falls accounted for 16 of the 19 total shots during the period.
The Americans and Bulls took advantage of scoring opportunities early in the second period. Donovan Mattfeldt connected on a pass from Aaron McInnis and Johnathan Carpenter 3:38 into the period to give Great Falls the first points of the afternoon. Five minutes after Mattfeldt’s score, Billings’ Steven Thompson tied the contest up at 1-1 with assistance from Colter Endy and Orri Haman. Great Falls held a 36-8 advantage over the Billings club on shot attempts toward the net heading into the final period of regulation.
In the next period, the Americans found themselves trailing 2-1 as Bulls grabbed their first lead as Matt Myers and Orri Haman found a wide-open Colter Endy with 5:20 remaining. Erik Gatson, the Phoenix, Arizona native, celebrated his 20th birthday by converting on a power play score with 82 seconds left to send the game into an extra period. Aaron McInnis picked up his second assist in this game and Great Falls native Brady Christiaens also tallied one on the Americans second goal in the AWHL contest.
Dylan Garton secured the victory with 1:47 left in the first overtime with a power play score off the stick of Donovan Mattfeldt and Aaron McInnis, who registered his 40th assist of the season.
Goaltender Erik Powell picked up the victory for Great Falls by stopping 17 of the 19 shots he faced against the Billings offense. Despite the loss, Isaac Tjaden completed the game with 54 saves for the Bulls. The Great Falls offense was running on all cylinders as they finished with 57 shots on goal compared to 19 for Billings.
Top-ranked Helena, Great Falls and Gillette have already clinched the playoffs and Billings is vying for the final spot with Glacier for the 4-team playoffs that begin on Tuesday, March 11th.
NEXT CONTEST: The Americans will be in Helena, Montana on Wednesday, March 5th to take on the top-ranked Helena Bighorns in the final road game of the regular season for Great Falls. Action begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Helena Ice Arena.
| Period 1 | Period 2 | Period 3 | 1st OT | Final | |
| Great Falls | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Billings | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
First Period – NO SCORING
Second Period – 1, Great Falls, Donovan Mattfeldt (Johnathan Carpenter, Aaron McInnis), 3:38. 2, Billings, Steven Thompson (Colter Endy, Orri Haman), 8:33.
Third Period – 3, Billings, Colter Endy (Matt Myers, Orri Haman), 14:40. 4, Great Falls, Erik Gatson (power play) (Aaron McInnis, Brady Christiaens), 18:38.
First Overtime – 5, Great Falls, Dylan Garton (power play) (Donovan Mattfeldt, Aaron McInnis), 3:13.
Shots on Goal – Great Falls 57, Billings 19.
Power-play Opportunities – Great Falls 2-for-8, Billings 0-for-1.
Attendance – 430
Box Score: Billings @ Great Falls
| Final – OT | Great Falls Iceplex Sun, Mar 02, 2014 7:00 PM MST |
 Billings 2 |
 Great Falls 3 |
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