By Mike Opel
Each team had their own Home Opener against one another this weekend and each team got to celebrate at home with a win. Friday night it was the Bozeman IceDogs coming out on top with a 4-1 victory.
For the 4th game in a row, the Cobras trailed after one period of play. It was Owen House that found the back of the net for his first goal of the season with 2:27 to go in the period to give Bozeman the early lead. The IceDogs extended the lead to 2-0 in the second after Kole Morris beat Caleb Cross at 5:20 of the period. The Cobras battled back to make it 2-1 on Luke Schleusner’s 3rd goal of the season.
Then a bugaboo from last season reared it’s ugly head when seconds later Bozeman got that goal back by making it 3-1. It was Chris Porciuncula getting his second goal of the season, killing any Cobra momentum in an instant. Porciuncula added a power play goal late in the period to round out the scoring for the game. Cam Milewski made 42 saves to get the win for Bozeman.
Saturday night it was the Cobras turn to have their home opener and they flipped the script winning 4-2.
The large turn out at the Butte Community Ice Center saw the Cobras draw first blood in the second period with Nick Bradshaws 4th goal of the year with 3:18 left in the period. Then just 16 seconds later, the Cobras newest addition Tyler Tosch rippled the twine giving the Cobras a 2-0 lead entering the 3rd period. Cade Wessman fired in a rebound at 5:20 and Patrick Crooks redirected a shot in the slot for a power play goal at 8:33 giving the Cobras a 4-0 lead and they made it stand up.
Two late goals for Bozeman by Chris Porciuncula and Spencer Wilkinson got the IceDogs as close as they would get. Braylon Rogers got the win in goal and is now 2-0 on the young season.
The Cobras are now 3-2 on the season. For the 3rd consecutive time the Cobras and IceDogs will battle once again, this time in Bozeman Friday night. Saturday night The Cobras will return home to host the Great Falls Americans at the Butte Community Ice Center. Game time is at 7:30.
