Dimond held off a determined East squad Tuesday night to take a tense 1-0 Cook Inlet Conference contest at Ben Boeke.
The T-birds sent their fans into a frenzy with a closing flurry that included a shot at the buzzer from Felila Manu that sailed over the net but appeared from the fans' perspective to go in.
"Yeah that was wild," said Dimond goalie Darin Hammingh, who made eight of his 18 saves in the final period.
Hammingh and East's Lane Fox were the game's biggest stars, with both making several clutch saves to keep things tight.
Dimond's lone goal was scored just one second after a penalty against East's Kyle Johnson expired. Johnson had scarcely left the sin bin when Dimond's Tanner Rath lifted a high shot that sailed over Fox's shoulder and into the upper netting. Augie Stevens and Peter Egrass assisted.
East nearly got the equalizer midway through the third period when Marshall Walsh beat Hammingh low, but the shot clunked off the front of the cage and stayed out.
Hammingh had lots of friends Tuesday night. In addition to the friendly goal post, he played most of the game with a borrowed helmet after his lost two screws during the first period.
"Yeah it was a little loose but it's the same helmet so it wasn't bad," Hammingh said of his borrowed lid, which is normally worn by Dimond goalie Chris Gardeline.
Hammingh said Dimond's win gave the goalie bragging rights over some of his comp hockey teammates who skate for the T-birds. Before Tuesday's contest, he said his feathered friends were chirping about getting the better of the Lynx this year.
"I guess we put 'em in their place," he said.
West 2, Wasilla 2 (OT)
West fought back to earn a 2-2 tie against nonconference Wasilla in Tuesday's nightcap at Ben Boeke.
Luke Schruf scored two first-period goals for Wasilla, and the Warriors held that advantage deep into the third. But Dawson Ellingworth's power play score with 5:58 left broke the shutout, and Tanner Edwards' with 2:27 tied things up.
The Eagles peppered Wasilla goalie Kiana Verplancke with 37 shots, including 16 in the frenetic third period.
Christopher Alexakis made 22 saves for West, which also got two assists from Mac Fair and another from Garrett Brunner.
GIRLS
Chugiak-Eagle River 3, South-Bartlett 0
Chugiak-Eagle River got an eight-save shutout from Arika Mercer and a pair of goals from Hannah Lowery to earn 3-0 Cook Inlet Conference girls hockey win over South-Bartlett at Sullivan Arena on Tuesday.
After a scoreless first period where South-Bartlett goalie Katie Wallow turned back seven shots, Chugiak-Eagle River broke through in the second on goals by Jade Pandres and Lowery. Pandres beat Wallow with an unassisted slap shot from a stride inside the blue line, and Lowery poked a nifty wraparound past Wallow's skate.
Chugiak-Eagle River added some insurance in the third period when Lowery scored again, this time with a high shot from between the face-off circles that was aided by a Madison Thompson screen in front of Wallow.
Wallow made 13 saves for South-Bartlett.