By Kevin Scott
HELENA, Mont., March 18, 2014 — The Helena Bighorns built a five goal lead through two periods and defeated the Great Falls Americans 6-1 in the first game of the AWHL Championship Series at the Helena Ice Arena in Helena, Montana on Tuesday night.
Sebastian Hansson, Damon Hanson and Dylan Webster got into the box score more than once in the opening period. Sebastian Hansson put the Bighorns up early in the first few minutes of first game of the AWHL Finals with help from teammates Austin Buckholtz and Damon Hanson on the play. Damon Hanson scored the second goal of the night for the top-ranked Bighorns as Dylan Webster and Sebastian found him open for the score against Americans goaltender Erik Powell. Helena found the back of the net for the third (and final) goal of the period as Dylan Webster tallied points on the unassisted goal with 6:07 on the clock.
Dylan Webster would add another goal on a power play opportunity with 15:11 remaining in the second period to push the Bighorn lead to 4-0. Assisting on the fourth goal was Nick Okada and Sebastian Hansson. Before the end of the period, John Bonta converted on his first scoring drive of the night to increase the advantage for Helena to 5-0. Nick Okada picked up his second assist and Brandt Miller chipped in his first.
Great Falls’ Aaron McInnis ended the shut-out as he found a way to get the puck past Helena goaltender Austin Brihn. Brady Christiaens and Trent Carter each secured one assist on the scoring drive. Dylan Webster scored his third point off a pass from Sam Bratten and Damon Hanson.
Webster led Helena in Game 1 with three goals and an assist while Sebastian Hansson ended the night with a goal and two assists. Aaron McInnis, the team leader in goals scored on the season, scored the only goal for the Americans 2:28 into the final period. Helena made Great Falls goaltenders Erik Powell and Evan Hauser work in the net throughout the contest and forced 46 shot attempts. Austin Brihn stopped all but one puck from getting into the net and finished with 20 saves.
The Americans could not convert on any of their six power play opportunities while Helena made only one power play goal out of four attempts. Both teams combined for 34 minutes of penalty time on 12 infractions.
NEXT CONTEST: Great Falls will host Helena for Game Two of the 2014 AWHL Championship Series on Wednesday (March 19th) beginning at 7:00 p.m. at the Great Falls Ice Plex.
| Period 1 | Period 2 | Period 3 | Final | |
| Great Falls | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Helena | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
First Period – 1, Helena, Sebastian Hansson (Austin Buckholtz, Damon Hanson), 3:29. 2, Helena, Damon Hanson (Dylan Webster, Sebastian Hansson), 7:45. 3, Helena, Dylan Webster (short-handed) (Austin Brihn), 13:53.
Second Period – 4, Helena, Dylan Webster (power play) (Nick Okada, Sebastian Hansson), 4:49. 5, Helena, John Bonta (Brandt Miller, Nick Okada), 11:30.
Third Period – 6, Great Falls, Aaron McInnis (Brady Christiaens, Trent Carter), 2:28. 7, Helena, Dylan Webster (Sam Bratten, Damon Hanson), 17:04.
Shots on Goal – Great Falls 21, Helena 46.
Power-play Opportunities – Great Falls 0-for-6, Helena 1-for-4.
Attendance – 257
Box Score: Great Falls @ Helena
| Final | Helena Ice Arena Tue, Mar 18, 2014 7:35 PM MST |
 Great Falls 1 |
 Helena 6 |
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Additional Media Coverage: March 18, 2014: Great Falls Tribune: AWHL Playoffs: Americans drop opener in Helena