Sheridan Hawks Junior Hockey Team Sweeps Montana Road Trip; Adds Cushion Room On First Place Lead

Friday night (February 13th) the Hawks were in Helena to take on the #2 seed Bighorns. 

In a very back and forth contest, the Sheridan Hawks pulled out a big regulation win to widen their lead for first place in the Frontier Division.

Through out the game, neither team could gain safe control of the lead, but ultimately the Hawks were able to hold on and take a huge win on the road.

Jeff Slivon went unassisted to start the game early for the Hawks one minute into the 1st period, but quickly the first lead change happened. Helena netted one two minutes later to tie the game, and followed up with another on the power play at the 11 minute mark to turn the tide in favor of the Bighorns.

Just a minute after that lead shift, Dantae Hunziker responded short- handed to tie it up with an assist from Charlie Stow and Deagan Watson.

With 6:50 remaining in the first frame, Kiefer Dunham regained the lead for the Hawks before the intermission assisted by Vlad Zubriichuk and Caden Gleason.

The first half of the second period went scoreless until around the midpoint when Max Krueger extended the Hawks lead with an unassisted goal. 

Helena finally responded with a second power play goal just before the second intermission to bring it to 4-3 heading into the break.

Krueger went back for his second goal of the game short-handed to start the third period, with assists by Jameson Clark and Vincent Leaf, but just 3 seconds later the Bighorns fired back with their third power play goal of the evening.

With the narrow one point lead the Hawks hit the pedal and it was Elijah Farris (assisted by Danny Shelden and Zach Marsell) and Easton Langemo (unassisted) putting up back-to-back goals for the Hawks to give them what appeared to be a comfortable three goal lead.

But some late resistance came from Helena when they came back hard, scoring back-to-back goals of their own. 

Although they cut the Hawks three goal lead to just one, the Bighorns couldn’t manage the tying goal despite ending the game on a power play and pulling their goalie to gain a two skater advantage and the Hawks sealed the victory.

With the regular season entering its final weeks and each team looking for every point possible, the Sheridan Hawks were able to win in regulation and secure a four point lead in the standings.

The Sheridan Hawks picked up their second big win on the road, this time in Bozeman, as they continued to maintain distance for their first-place spot in the Frontier Division.

After entering the first intermission down 1-0, the Hawks shifted gears and turned on the jets before storming back and winning this contest.

Just after the midpoint of the first period, Bozeman put up the first goal and the first lead of the game for the Icedogs.

In the first quarter of the second period, Deagan Watson responded to tie the game on the power play with assists from Langemo and Leaf, but the Icedogs retaliated 18 seconds later to revive the Icedogs lead.

Despite this promising start for the Icedogs, the Hawks quickly turned the tide.

Max Krueger continued his excellent season with the tying goal (with the apple from Leaf), and 49 seconds later, Jameson Clark put one in the net with help from Timnothy Vaculik, and created the first Sheridan lead of the game.

At the midpoint of the third, Krueger grabbed the puck in the slot before scoring his second goal of the game and his 20th of the season, assisted this time by Vaculik and Clark.

Bozeman capitalized on a two man advantage following a pair of Hawks penalties to score, but it would be the last of the night for the ‘Dogs. 

Watson, assisted by Leaf, scored an insurance goal and then Leaf, with help from Langemo and Charlie Stow sealed the deal for the Hawks with an empty netter and iced this game 6-3.

The Sheridan offensive was in full effect with Vincent Leaf picking up a goal and four points, while Max Krueger and Deagan Watson both had two goal games.

These three players have been essential to the Hawks push for the division title, and this game was a perfect indicator of that impact.

The Hawks are off next weekend, and then head to Cody to take on the Yellowstone Quake. 

They return home to host the Quake on March 6 & 7 to end the regular season.