Bulls drop weekend series in Helena, four points from top
February 3, 2005 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Billings Bulls News Release
The Billings Bulls came into their weekend series with the Helena Bighorns riding an 8-game winning streak. 48 hours later though, they left the state capitol with a 2-game losing streak in tow.
The Bulls dropped their meeting with the Bighorns Friday night 4-3 and followed that up with a 3-1 loss Saturday at the Helena Ice Arena. The Bulls began both nights with lethargic starts and allowed the Bighorns to jump out to early leads. Friday night Helena got first period goals from Andy Gevorkyan and Cory Mozak en route to a 2-0 lead after the opening twenty minutes. The 2nd period saw much of the same from the Bighorns. Brandon Marino and Nate Rein both scored for Helena while the only tally the Bulls could muster in the second frame came from Brett Gorman. The Bulls certainly had their work cut out for them entering the third and final period in regulation play but we've known all season long that this is a third period team and the Bulls showed that again but in the end it was simply too little too late. Brian Kaufman scored just 47 seconds into the period to cut the Helena lead to 2. Then with under 6:30 to go Kaufman picked up another loose puck in front of the net and put that home for his 2nd goal of the period. The Bulls were then only down by 1 with still plenty of time left for the equalizer. In the end the Helena defense and the goaltending of Chad Beiswenger was simply too much as the Bighorns were able to hang on for the 4-3 victory. A good bit of credit should be given to Bull's goaltender Jon Anderson though who faced 50 shots that night and turned aside 46 of them.
So with the loss Friday the best the Bulls could hope for in the weekend series with Helena was a split and as it turns out they weren't even able to get that. Even though it was a different night it was the same story in the first period as Helena grabbed a pair of goals (Marino, Mozak) in the first twenty minutes to take another 2-0 lead into the dressing room after the first. The second period didn't see any scoring but there certainly was plenty of excitement, at the 17:57 mark in particular. That was when Greg Flynn was going back to touch up an icing and was drilled into the wall from behind by Doug Gebbie. Mike Mayra stepped in to handle Gebbie and all three were ejected from the game. The Bulls then made another charge in the 3rd with a goal from Jeff Hazelwood with 2:32 left but an empty net goal from Nate Rein sealed the deal for the Bighorns.
With the two losses the Bulls are now 24-13-5 on the season and remain at 53 points in the NAHL Western Division standings. They currently trail the 1st place Fargo-Moorhead Jets by 4 points and sit only 4 points up on 3rd place Helena.
The Bulls have just one game this week Wednesday night when they welcome the Minnesota Blizzard. The Bulls are 1-3 vs. the Blizzard this season with 3 out of the 4 meetings having been decided by a single goal. The doors will open at 6:05 and then the puck hits the ice at 7:05.
• Discuss this story on the North American Hockey League message board...
North American Hockey League Stories from February 3, 2005
- Bandits-Texas showdown set for this weekend - St. Louis Bandits
- Hansen's exploits earn NAHL Defensive Player of the Week honors - St. Louis Bandits
- Blizzard splits pair with Bismarck - Alexandria Blizzard
- Sellan carries Tornado to two wins in Santa Fe - Texas Tornado
- Bozeman's January record for the dogs - Bozeman Icedogs
- Soo moves to top spot - Soo Indians
- Bulls drop weekend series in Helena, four points from top - Billings Bulls
- Bobcats creeping up in West Division standings - Bismarck Bobcats
- Big crowds help Wildcats defeat Jr. Blues - Wichita Falls Wildcats
- Huck named Sher-wood NAHL Offensive Player of the Week - Wichita Falls Wildcats
- Jets ride five-game win streak into All-Star break - Fargo-Moorhead Jets
- Barons drop a pair on weekend - Cleveland Barons
- NAHL and Tornado All-Star jerseys now on eBay - NAHL
- Phantoms news - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
