ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Eric Buchholz's 52 saves for a shutout helped lead the Helena Bighorns to a 2-0 win over the Granite City Lumberjacks on Wednesday night.
The last time the Bighorns faced off against the Lumberjacks they fell 3-0, making Wednesday’s win extra sweet.
“I mean, I think the celebration after the game was self-explanatory. But, everyone was just happy, especially against Granite because they’ve given us a problem before. So, it’s just a good feeling for everyone on the team that it ended the right way,” Buchholz said.
Though he stopped a whopping 52 shots, Buchholz says not once did he feel tired.
“No, I just think I was hyped up the whole time," he said. "When we got here I was just ready to go, so everything was going to go the way I wanted it to be.”
Buchholz, who has arguably the best view of the game, was extremely proud of his team’s performance Wednesday, calling out Liam Bland’s goal during a power play, and his defensemen.
“They kept the puck to the outside so I didn’t really have that many hard saves to make,” he said.
This Bighorns team gels well together on defense, and throughout the season we’ve seen the team defend against more than just the puck. This team has no problem letting opponents know when they’re being a little too aggressive in the crease, and Buchholz has come out of the crease to defend his teammates.
Buchholz is particularly fond of having a team that sticks up for each other the way the Bighorns do.
“Oh it’s great, like, literally everybody’s together, we’re all combined, not one person is by themselves so, nobodies on their own page, and it’s great," he said.
The Bighorns will be playing the El Paso Rhinos for their second game of the tournament, and Buchholz is planning to prepare for seeing a new team by watching some film on his own time.
“I just look at who’s probably their top players, top lines, and then just basically be aware every time they’re on the ice," he said.
Puck drop for their game against the Rhinos is set for Friday at 6 p.m.
