The Gillette Wild snapped a three-weekend losing streak against the Helena Bighorns over the weekend with two high-scoring victories.
At Spirit Hall Ice Arena, the Wild (12-7) defeated the Bighorns 8-2 on Friday and 8-1 on Saturday.
Gillette never gave up a lead and scored five power play goals over the weekend, while the team gave Helena (4-16) seven total chances with a man advantage and never let in a goal on the penalty kill.
During both games, the Wild played their best offense in the second period, tallying four goals in each of the game’s middle frames.
Wild forward Declan Young led the Wild over the weekend recording hat tricks in each game. He finished the series with six goals and six assists.
Young leads the Wild in goals and assists through 19 games this season. He has scored 24 goals, three times more than the second-top scorer, and he’s notched 20 assists.
Caleb Sanborn and Hunter Beckett each tallied two goals in Friday’s game. Sanborn finished with seven points over the weekend.
The Wild out-shot the Bighorns 115-89 in two games. Wild goalie Anthony Seykora started the first game and saved 40-42 shots. Brad Muzarelli started the finale and saved 46-47.
Friday’s victory marked the first Wild win since Oct. 19. Gillette lost the next three series to the three top teams in the Frontier Division — Sheridan, Great Falls and Bozeman — after that.
The Wild were 10-1 before the six consecutive losses.
Gillette stayed at fourth place in the Frontier Division standings over the weekend, with Sheridan (15-4) ahead and Yellowstone and Missoula tied for fifth place beneath with 6-13 records.
Next series, the Gillette Wild are scheduled to play the Yellowstone Quake back at Spirit Hall Ice Arena on Friday and Saturday.
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