By Kevin Scott
BLAINE, Minn., December 8, 2014 — The Great Falls Americans (20-2) met the St. Louis (MO) Jr. Blues (9-15-2) on the second day of the 2014 NA3HL Showcase held in Blaine, Minnesota on Monday morning.
It was the battle of the Frontier Division and the Central Division of the NA3HL with the Americans designated as the home team.
Great Falls claimed their 20th victory of the season in a wild 4-3 shootout win over the St. Louis Jr. Blues at the Schwan Super Rink on Monday morning. Austin Krantz tied the contest up at 3-3 in the third period. With neither team finding the back of the net in overtime, Missouri native Reed Link was able to score the winning goal over St. Louis goaltender William Hindle in the shootout.
Robert Kalata wasted little time finding the back of the net as he scored in the first 68 seconds to put Great Falls ahead before St. Louis’ Alex Klaesner added his two back-to-back goals in the opening period. Lucas Stover and Adam Apangalook assisted on Kalata’s eleventh goal of the season. Brian Schumacher and Adam Havener each assisted on both of Klaesner’s points.
The Americans found themselves down 2-1 after the first intermission before Zack Mese and Hunter Garris connected with Dylan Garton for the game-tying tally midway through the second. Brian Schumacher reclaimed the lead for the Missouri NA3HL franchise off the stick of Alex Klaesner with 6:55 on the clock.
The goal in the third period by Austin Krantz from Jonathan Carpenter helped Great Falls get to overtime where both teams struggled to find a way to put any points on the scoreboard.
Reed Link was the third member of the Great Falls franchise to score in the shootout along with Hunter Garris and Cody Page. Link’s goal proved to be the game-winner in the first shoot-out for Great Falls this season.
Both teams could not find a way to put in any of their seven combined power play chances that they each had during the contest.
Great Falls accumulated four minutes of penalty time with two minors while St. Louis finished with five minor penalties for 20 minutes.
Evan Hauser, the top goaltender in the NA3HL with a 12-0 record, rejected 30 shots and now has 384 saves for Great Falls. William Hindle stopped 43 of the 46 shots he faced against the Americans.
NEXT CONTEST: The Great Falls Americans will face the Point Mallard Ducks at 8:00AM (MST) on the final day of the NA3HL Showcase Hockey Tournament in Blaine, Minnesota on Tuesday, December 9, 2014.
| Period 1 | Period 2 | Period 3 | OT | SO | Final | |
| Great Falls | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| St. Louis | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
First Period – 1, Great Falls, Robert Kalata (Lucas Stover, Adam Apangalook), 1:08. 2, St. Louis, Alex Klaesner (Brian Schumacher, Adam Havener), 9:15. 3, St. Louis, Alex Klaesner (Brian Schumacher, Adam Havener), 15:49.
Second Period – 4, Great Falls, Dylan Garton (Zack Mese, Hunter Garris), 11:25. 5, St. Louis, Brian Schumacher (Alex Klaesner), 13:05.
Third Period – 6, Great Falls, Austin Krantz (Jonathan Carpenter), 5:17.
Overtime – NO SCORING
Shootout – St. Louis, Sam Yauch (Goal), Great Falls, Hunter Garris (Goal), St. Louis, Tommy Heinzman (No Goal), Great Falls, Lucas Lomax (No Goal), St. Louis, Alex Klaesner (No Goal), Great Falls, Cody Page (Goal), St. Louis, Sam Maddox (Goal), Great Falls, Wade Wylie (No Goal), St. Louis, Adam Havener (No Goal), Great Falls, Marvin Simmons (No Goal), St. Louis, Daniel Dunaaway (No Goal), Great Falls, Michael Kliment (No Goal), St. Louis, Andrew Wingbermuehle (No Goal).
(Great Falls wins shootout 3-2)
7, Great Falls, Reed Link (Goal).
Shots on Goal – Great Falls 47, St. Louis 33.
Power-play Opportunities – Great Falls 0-for-5, St. Louis 0-for-2.
Attendance – 80