Bozeman Icedogs vs Badlands Sabres
By Sarah Wood
10/1/2021
Game Recap
The Badlands Sabres, the newest member of the NA3HL’s frontier division, won their first game of a weekend series against the Bozeman Icedogs.
The first period had little excitement, but the Icedogs put on pressure. Just 2 minutes and 17 seconds into the period, Shane Domanick, assisted by Cole Buscher landed the first goal of the game into the Sabres net.
The only scoring action we saw from the Icedogs in the 2nd was from Ian Bowman, assisted by Cole Buscher and Liam Massie. The Icedogs lost momentum halfway through the second period, The Sabres took control over the puck keeping it out of the Dogs offensive reach and avoided their defense. At the end of the 2nd Mason Martin, Seth Stock and Kael Delzer of the Sabres were quick to put the puck where it mattered, bringing the team 1-2.
One minute into the 3rd, Sabres Brady Ridnour hammered the puck into the net, bringing the score to 2-2. The Dogs tried, but could not gain ground, ending regulation time with a tie. The game went into typical three-on-three play. The Sabres and Dogs had equal control of the puck in over time, but Sabres leading scorer, Kael Delzer assisted by Derrick Brown and Carter Johnson, were able to get past the Dogs defense and score the winning over time goal.
The Icedogs defense did an impressive job limiting their opponents’ shots-on-goal number to 17 throughout the entire game. The Dogs also racked up an impressive 58 shots-on-goal, on the flip side we have to give credit to Sabres goalie, who stopped 56/58 shots and had a GAA of 1.90. Head Coach for the Bozeman Icedogs responded to how his team played, “We just didn’t work hard enough to get the puck in the back of the net… The Sabres are well coached and play a persistent game. If we want to beat a team like them, we have to capitalize on our opportunities.”
Game 2
10/2/2021
The second game in the weekend series between the Bozeman Icedogs and the Badlands Sabres saw more action from both teams. The Dogs showed much more determination and had a more energetic style of play, allowing them to get ahead of the Sabres in the second period. If they continue to play as they did in this game, they look to be a very competitive team this season.
The 1st period was packed with action, 6 goals being scored, 3 of which from the Sabres and 2 from Bozeman. Sabres Zach Vockler assisted by Utin Lightning rang the first goal buzzer, but one minute later Ian Bowman responded with a goal, Dogs fans cheered from the stands. The Sabres took the opportunity of Bozeman’s Nick Smith being in the box, came back and sank another one into the net. The back and forth continued with Bozeman scoring one more goal in the 1st, bringing it 2-2. In the last 48 seconds of the 1st, the Sabres sang when Brady Ridnour and Keagon Holloway ended the period 3-2.
The 2nd period favored the Icedogs in goals, but not in penalty minutes. Four Icedogs players visited the box throughout the period, despite the advantage of numerous power plays, the Sabres could not stay ahead. Icedog Ian Bowman scored two goals, one of which being a penalty shot and the other assisted by Liam Massie. Nick Stevens also scored, assisted by no one but himself.
The action seemed to simmer out in the 3rd period, that is until Utin Lightning of the Sabres was sent to the box for cross checking, resulting in a 5-minute major. He was followed by one of his opponents, Cole Buscher for spearing, another 5-minute major. While Buscher spent time in the sin bin, his teammate Michael Schwartz ended the period with the last goal of the game, resulting in a 6-3 win for the Icedogs.