By Kevin Scott
CODY, Wyo., February 14, 2014 — Austin Krantz scored two back-to-back goals in the third period to help the Great Falls Americans pick up a 5-1 decision over the Yellowstone Quake at the Victor J. Riley Arena in Cody, Wyoming on Friday night.
Cody Page and Dylan Garton put the Great Falls franchise up 2-0 in the first period. Aaron McInnis and Steven Goran provided one assist each.
Yellowstone’s James Pyle was able to cut the home team’s deficit to 2-1 with a power play goal from TJay Lozier and Jimmy Tich in the middle period. The only category that the Quake led in was shots on goal (28-23) after four minutes of action.
Donovan Mattfeldt and Austin Krantz provided the scoring in the final period as the Americans shut-out the Quake 3-0 in the final twenty minutes of action. Mattfieldt tallied a power play goal with 12:44 left in regulation off the pass from Dylan Garton. Great Falls scored again on the “Austin-to-Austin” connection as Austin Krantz recorded his tenth goal of the season with Austin Nottke adding the assist on the Americans fourth goal of the evening. Krantz would score with under 4:00 minutes left to increase the lead for Coach Jeff Heimel’s squad to 5-1. Steven Goran and Lucas Stover were credited with the assists on the final scoring opportunity for both teams.
The Americans recorded their 31st victory of the season (31-8-3) including going 13-5-3 on the road so far this season. The visiting team took advantage of two of their five power play opportunities in the third period on Mattfeldt and Krantz scoring plays. James Pyle converted the only goal for the Quake on a power play of his own with the Yellowstone club going 1-for-7.
Evan Hauser out-played Yellowstone’s Sean Leahy behind the net by registering 34 saves and giving up only one goal to the Quake. Despite the loss, Leahy stopped 35-of-40 shot attempts put up by the Americans offense.
NEXT CONTEST: The Americans will stay in Cody, WY on Friday night and take on the same Yellowstone Quake team for Game Two of their series on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014 at 7:30 p.m.
| Period 1 | Period 2 | Period 3 | Final | |
| Great Falls | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| Yellowstone | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
First Period – 1, Great Falls, Cody Page (short-handed) (Aaron McInnis), 11:31. 2, Great Falls, Dylan Garton (Steven Goran), 14:51.
Second Period – 3, Yellowstone, James Pyle (power play) (TJay Lozier, Jimmy Tich), 13:07.
Third Period –4, Great Falls, Donovan Mattfeldt (power play) (Dylan Garton), 7:16. 5, Great Falls, Austin Krantz (Austin Nottke), 11:54. 6, Great Falls, Austin Krantz (power play) (Steven Goran, Lucas Stover), 16:03.
Shots on Goal – Great Falls 40, Yellowstone 35.
Power-play Opportunities – Great Falls 2-for-5, Yellowstone 1-for-7.
Attendance – 210
Box Score: Great Falls @ Yellowstone
| Final | Victor J Riley Fri, Feb 14, 2014 7:30 PM MST |
 Great Falls 5 |
 Yellowstone 1 |
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