Butte Cobras played host to the Missoula Bruins this afternoon in a make-up game previously postponed. It was the second matchup between the two teams in the past four days with Butte winning last Friday 4-2.
Today’s performance outshined the first though with a Kylar Garsjo hat trick providing all the offense needed in a 4-1 victory. Randy Yeakley also scored for the Cobras.
Goaltender Nikolai Wallery stopped the first 33 shots faced, keeping the Bruins off the board for 59:40. A turnover in the defensive zone led to a Missoula goal breaking up the shutout bid with just :20 in regulation.
Butte came out flying in the first outshooting the visitors 17-6 in the opening period. Garsjo scored the lone goal with assists from Hunter Howe and Nikita Pinimyasov.
After a scoreless second period Garsjo made it 2-0 at 3:06 of the third on a tally assisted by Robin Bagley and Nick Bradshaw. Less than a minute later Randy Yeakley scored his third of the season to give the Cobras a 3-0 advantage.
Near the midway point of the final frame Garsjo completed his hat trick scoring shorthanded. Yeakley assisted on the goal, the 11th of the season for Garsjo.
Butte Cobras return to action on Wednesday with another matinee game, this time on the road against the Helena Bighorns. Game time scheduled for noon. Fans can tune in live on HockeyTV https://www.hockeytv.com/game/938266.