By Kevin Scott
GREAT FALLS, Mont., December 1, 2013 — The second-ranked Great Falls Americans faced their toughest test so far in the 2013-14 season as they battled it out with the top-ranked Helena Bighorns in their fifth meeting of the season. The Americans took a 3-1 early lead in the second period before Helena rallied with four goals of their own to post a 5-3 win in front of 465 spectators at the Great Falls Ice Plex on Sunday afternoon. The Bighorns have won four out of their five times they faced each other.
Austin Buckholtz put the Bighorns on the scoreboard first at the 11:43 mark of the opening period. Great Falls showed an offensive spark as Cody Page tied the game five minutes later off a pass from Great Falls native Connor Barta. The Americans took advantage of a power play opportunity 26 seconds later with Steven Goran netting the Americans second goal. Cody Page and Dylan Garton assisted on the score. The Americans led 2-1 after the first intermission despite being out-shot 24-8 to the rival Bighorns.
A short-handed goal by Doug Keller of Great Falls put the Americans ahead by two goals (3-1) midway through the second period. The Americans scoring opportunity went unassisted. Corbin Belling cut the Helena deficit to 3-2 one minute later as Logan Henne and Nick Okada tallied the assists. The Bighorns offense rallied to tie the game with 45 seconds left the second intermission with Parker Olson’s power play score over American’s goaltender Erik Powell. The assists on the final score of the period went to Brian Skillicorn and Logan Henne. Helena, coached by former Americans coach Scott Cunningham, nearly doubled the Americans shot attempts after forty minutes of play (39-20).
The Jacob Wolter to Sebastian Hansson goal broke the tie for Helena four minutes into the final period. The Americans would trail the Bighorns by a goal throughout the rest of the AWHL contest until Dylan Webster put the game out of reach with 1:07 remaining with an empty net goal of his own. Jacob Wolter and Helena goalie Alek Lazarski were each credited with assists.
Cody Page led the Americans with one goal and one assist while Logan Henne and Jacob Wolter each recorded two assists for the Helena Bighorns. Helena forced Great Falls goalie Erik Powell to work hard by taking 58 shot attempts against him. Alek Lazarski stopped 21 of the 24 shot attempts made by Great Falls.
NEXT CONTEST: The Americans (18-5) will be in Gillette, WY for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday (Dec. 6th and 7th) against the Gillette Wild. The Americans do not return to home ice until 2014 when they face the Billings Bulls on Saturday, January 11th.
| Period 1 | Period 2 | Period 3 | Final | |
| Great Falls | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Helena | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
First Period – 1, Helena, Austin Buckholtz (unassisted), 8:17. 2, Great Falls, Cody Page (assisted by Connor Barta), 13:34. 3, Great Falls, Steven Goran (power play) (Dylan Garton, Cody Page), 14:30.
Second Period –4, Great Falls, Doug Keller (short-handed) (unassisted), 11:17. 5, Helena, Corbin Belling (Logan Henne, Nick Okada), 12:28. 6, Helena, Parker Olson (power play) (Brian Skillicorn, Logan Henne), 19:16.
Third Period –7, Helena, Sebastian Hansson (Jacob Wolter), 4:21. 8, Helena, Dylan Webster (empty net) (Jacob Wolter, Alek Lazarski), 18:53.
Shots on Goal – Great Falls 24, Helena 58.
Power-play Opportunities – Great Falls 1-for-4, Helena 1-for-3.
Attendance – 465
Box Score: Helena @ Great Falls
| inal | Great Falls Iceplex Sun, Dec 01, 2013 4:00 PM MST |
 Helena 5 |
 Great Falls 3 |
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