WHITEFISH — The Glacier Nationals picked up their second straight NORPAC win with a 5-1 victory over the Tri-Cities Outlaws Friday at Stumptown Ice Den.

Glacier (6-3 NORPAC, 7-9 overall) hit the post four times in a frustrating first period before burying two chances in the second and three more in the third for a comfortable win.

The Nationals defeated Tri-Cities (6-7 NORPAC) 10-2 in their previous meeting on Nov. 2, and while Friday’s score wasn’t nearly as one-sided, Glacier dominated puck possession in all three periods and outshot the Outlaws 53-25.

“Tri-Cities was better tonight,” Nationals coach Joakim Falt said. “It’s always hard when you play a team you’ve smoked, because in your mind you think it’s going to be easy.”

Nationals left wing Tucker Spooner, who had two goals and an assist, said he wasn’t about to take the Outlaws lightly.

“We still had the same mindset,” he said. “We needed to do the little things to win.”

“Any team can go down on any given night, so we knew we had to come in and play our game,” Nationals defenseman Brandon Vitale said.

After a fast-paced opening 10 minutes, the ice began to tilt in Glacier’s favor when Tri-Cities’ James Williams took a tripping penalty at the 11-minute mark. The Nationals put three shots on net during the power play — its best chance coming when forward Sebastian Adnell’s shot from the low slot was deflected over the net — and maintained that momentum after the penalty expired.

Spooner hit the post from the high slot with 5:45 remaining in the period. Ninety seconds later, Kody Johnson had a chance on a two-on-two rush, but his shot was knocked away by the Tri-Cities goaltender, and the game remained scoreless at the end of the first period.

Glacier took the lead early in the second period on a blast from the point by defenseman Travis Redman, a goal Spooner said gave the Nationals the momentum they needed to finish strong.

“When we got that first goal things started going our way,” he said.

“After the first period we were frustrated because we hit four posts.”

Spooner potted Glacier’s second goal less than five minutes later. Defenseman Mason Meyer chipped the puck off the boards into the neutral zone to spring Spooner on a breakaway. With just the goalie to beat, Spooner deked left and tucked the puck inside the right post to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead.

The Nationals put a flurry of shots on goal during a power play later in the period, but the score remained 2-0 at the second intermission.

Vitale added to Glacier’s lead six minutes into the third period with a power-play goal before Tri-Cities’ Devan Beck scored three minutes later to put the Outlaws on the board.

Spooner netted his second goal of the game at the 10-minute mark, deflecting a shot by Jonathan Walker past the Tri-Cities goaltender to make the score 4-1.

Glacier’s Jordan Carter concluded the scoring with 1:35 remaining.

The Nationals had given up 10 goals in their previous two games, both against the Billings Bulls, but didn’t have those defensive problems on Friday. Besides Beck’s goal, the Outlaws’ best chance came early in the second period when a Glacier defenseman fell down at the blue line, giving Tri-Cities a two-on-one breakaway, but Riley Ollero’s shot missed wide of the near post.

“There were a couple mental breakdowns where they had a couple good chances, but we buckled down and played well,” Vitale said.

The Nationals host Tri-Cities again today at 7:35 p.m at Stumptown Ice Den.

Tri-Cities 0 0 1 — 1

Glacier 0 2 3 — 5

Scoring summary

First period

No scoring

Second period

Gla - Travis Redman (assist Mason Meyer), 3:40

Gla - Tucker Spooner (Meyer), 8:19

Third period

Gla - PP Brandon Vitale (Spooner, Austin Givens), 6:03

Tri - PP Devan Beck (Brett Myer), 9:17

Gla - Spooner (Jonathan Walker, Daniel Roe), 10:00

Gla - Jordan Carter, 18:25

Penalties

First period

Tri - James Williams, 2:00 tripping, 11:05

Gla - Jackson Schroeder, 2:00 head contact, 16:15

Gla - Schroeder, 10:00 unsportsmanlike conduct, 16:15

Second period

Tri - Jordan Tuttle, 2:00 delay of game, 9:50

Gla - Kody Johnson, 2:00 delay of game, 9:50

Gla - Sebastian Adnell, 2:00 holding, 10:24

Tri - Chace Epler, 2:00 tripping, 15:04

Gla - Collin Plitt, 2:00 tripping, 18:35

Third period

Tri - Williams, 2:00 tripping, 5:08

Gla - James Johnstone, 2:00 tripping, 7:22

Tri - Beck, 2:00 cross-checking, 15:31

Team statistics

Shots on goal - Tri-Cities 25, Glacier 53. Saves - Tri-Cities 48 (C. Kaiser), Glacier 24 (M. Tyson). Power plays - Tri-Cities 1-4, Glacier 1-4. Penalty minutes - Tri-Cities 10, Glacier 20.