Thursday Thriller: Gillette Takes the Win in a Close Battle

provided by Molly Diderrich

Gillette 6 @ Butte 5 – The Gillette Wild defeated the Butte Irish in an offensive game. The game started slowly, with the only goal in the first period coming from Andrew James for the Irish. However, the second period was extremely fast and offensive. James scored again on the power play early in the second period to give the Irish a 2-0 lead. This did not last long, as Beau Delich and Dylan Crossley both scored for the Wild to even the score. Then, the Irish went on a run. Bryce Hodges and Tyler Jones both scored for the Irish within a minute of each other. Kaleb Ivens scored a little over five minutes later to give the Irish a 5-2 lead. Maguire Dewees scored to close the second period for the Wild. The Wild carried this momentum into the third period, and less than a minute in, Cash Schwartman scored. Lance Feagans scored on the power play to tie the game for the Wild. Then, with five minutes left in the game, Donovan Balek found the back of the net to give the Wild a 6-5 lead. The Wild’s goalie, Blake Belden, stood strong for the rest of the game and secured the 6-5 road win for the Wild after facing 55 shots on goal and putting up a save percentage of 0.909.