By Kevin Scott
CODY, Wyo., February 12, 2015 — The Great Falls Americans (31-8-3) and the Yellowstone Quake (9-29-4) have only played each other twice this year with the Americans taking both games back in Week 4 of the 2014-15 NA3HL regular season.
The Americans put up 16 goals and only allowed three goals in those games in Great Falls in October. The last-place (in the Frontier Division) Quake have nothing to lose in their last three weeks of the season since they won’t be one of the four teams to qualify for the playoffs. Great Falls is fighting to stay atop the division standings after having already made the playoffs, which begin in March.
Great Falls scored four times in the second period and added two more goals in the final period to lift the Americans to a 6-0 shutout victory over the Yellowstone Quake on Thursday night in the first game of their two game series in Cody, Wyoming. This was the seventh shutout victory for Great Falls this season and the third in the last four games.
The first period scoreboard didn’t see a lot of movement as both NA3HL clubs did not record any power plays, penalties or any successful scoring opportunities. Great Falls did have an eight point advantage in shots-on-goals against the Wyoming squad (15-7).
The next period was a different story. Four different American players each recorded goals after the first intermission. Wade Wylie found a way to get the Great Falls team on the scoreboard early thanks to Zack Mese and Georgy Ostapchuk. Five minutes into the stanza, Joshua Larson scored his first goal (15th overall) in his third game with the Americans after coming over from the Glacier Nationals in a trade earlier this month. The short-handed goal was assisted by Lucas Lomax and Reed Link. The Americans took a 3-0 lead over Yellowstone with a Reed Link score with assistance from Lucas Lomax and Joshua Larson with six minutes left in the period. After recording a goal, Joshua Larson recorded his second assist and Cody Page added his first on a goal netted by Lucas Lomax with 12 seconds left. Yellowstone couldn’t convert their only power play opportunity and after forty minutes, the game saw just one minor penalty by Great Falls.
Zack Mese picked up his second assist in the first half of the final period as his dish to Wade Wylie stretched the lead for the Americans to 5-0. Wylie’s second goal of the night came with just over 15 minutes remaining. Great Falls native Dylan Garton converted the first power play score and the final tally of the night with 6:39 left in the contest. Cody Page registered his second assist while Wade Wylie picked up his first.
Great Falls out-shot Yellowstone 51-20 including holding the Quake to no more than seven in each of the three periods.
Wade Wylie contributed two goals and one assist while Lucas Lomax and Joshua Larson each scored once and provided two assists in the win.
There were only three total power plays in the game and Great Falls capitalized on the only one via Dylan Garton’s last goal of the game.
The Americans finished with three of the game’s five total penalties in the last two periods.
Jordan Moran, a Prior Lake, Minnesota native, performed well in his third game with Great Falls. He earned 20 saves and now has a 2-1 record for the Great Falls franchise. Yellowstone’s Lance Knudson ended his night by allowing six goals in 51 shot attempts.
NEXT CONTEST: The Americans stay in Wyoming for a second game with the Quake beginning at 7:30PM on Friday, February 13th.
| Period 1 | Period 2 | Period 3 | Final | |
| Great Falls | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Yellowstone | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
First Period – NO SCORING
Second Period – 1, Great Falls, Wade Wylie (Zack Mese, Georgy Ostapchuk), 2:23. 2, Great Falls, Joshua Larson (short-handed) (Lucas Lomax, Reed Link), 5:09. 3, Great Falls, Reed Link (Joshua Larson, Lucas Lomax), 13:42. 4, Lucas Lomax (Cody Page, Joshua Larson), 19:48.
Third Period – 5, Great Falls, Wade Wylie (Zack Mese, Connor Barta), 4:51. 6, Great Falls, Dylan Garton (power play) (Wade Wylie, Cody Page), 13:21.
Shots on Goal – Great Falls 51, Yellowstone 20.
Power-play Opportunities – Great Falls 1-for-1, Yellowstone 0-for-2.
Attendance – Not Announced