The Gillette Wild had trouble finding ways to stop the Great Falls Americans, which beat Wild, 4-1.
Great Falls was led by goalie Evan Hauser, who finished with 39 saves while allowing one goal. Hauser managed to improve on his goals against average, which stood at 1.42 prior to the game.
The Americans were sparked by Austin Krantz, who had one goal. Krantz scored 6:01 into the first period to make the score 2-0 Great Falls. Dylan Garton assisted on the tally.
Great Falls forced Gillette\’s netminders to work without much rest, racking up 39 shots and forcing 35 saves. Alex Feese made 24 stops and Sean Kelley made 11.
Great Falls also got points from Garton, who also grabbed one goal and one assist and Zack Mese, who also finished with one goal and one assist. Great Falls also got a goal from Cody Page as well. In addition, Great Falls received assists from Malachi Bushey, who had two and Erik Gatson, Reed Link, and Miles Giorgione, who each chipped in one.
The Wild could not produce up to their normal offensive output. Gillette puts an average of 3.9 pucks into the net per game. The Wild\’s offense rang up 40 shots on the Americans\’ net.
Brandon Beard also scored for Gillette. More assists for Gillette came via Mitchell McEwan, who had one.
Great Falls incurred 26 minutes in penalty time with three minors. Gillette incurred 24 minutes in penalty time with two minors.