Three periods of regulation and an overtime session were not enough to settle matters as the Great Falls Americans defeated the St. Louis Jr. Blues in a shootout 4-3 (3-2 SO).
The shootout featured 14 attempts between both teams. St. Louis got shootout goals from Sam Yauch and Sam Maddox. In addition to the clincher, Great Falls got shootout goals from Hunter Garris and Cody Page.
The Americans came back from a one-goal deficit to capture the victory. Great Falls trailed 3-2 after a goal by the Jr. Blues\’ Brian Schumacher at 13:05 in the second period. The Americans knotted things up at 3-3 on a goal by Austin Krantz at 5:17 in the third period.
Great Falls was led by Krantz, who grabbed one goal.
St. Louis was unable to stop the Americans from sending pucks towards the net, and Great Falls eventually piled up 47 shots on goal.
Others who scored for Great Falls included Robert Kalata and Dylan Garton, who scored one goal each. More assists for Great Falls came via Garris, Jonnathan Carpenter, Zack Mese, Lucas Stover, and Adam Apangalook, who contributed one each.
The Jr. Blues\’ penalty kill was spotless, allowing no goals on five Great Falls power plays. St. Louis forced the Americans goalie Evan Hauser to work between the pipes, taking 33 shots.
The Jr. Blues were helped by Alex Klaesner, who finished with two goals and one assist. Klaesner scored the first of his two goals at 9:15 into the first period to make the score 1-1. Schumacher picked up the assist. Klaesner\’s next tally made the score 2-1 St. Louis with 4:11 left in the first period. Schumacher provided the assist. St. Louis additionally got points from Schumacher, who also had one goal and two assists. In addition, St. Louis received assists from Adam Havener, who had two.
Hauser recorded 30 saves for Great Falls. The Americans incurred four minutes in penalty time with two minors. St. Louis\’ William Hindle stopped 43 shots out of the 46 that he faced. The Jr. Blues incurred 20 minutes in penalty time with five minors.