Scoring chances were abundant and power plays plentiful, so all a potential goal-fest lacked Tuesday night was cooperation from West's Jack Walters and South's Jeremy Swayman.
Goaltenders are in the business of snuffing shooters' dreams, and each performed nearly to perfection at Ben Boeke Arena.
Walters stopped 33 shots, including 10 in overtime, and Swayman delivered 23 saves in a 1-1 boys hockey tie between two teams in the upper half of the Cook Inlet Conference boys standings.
"There were a lot of good opportunities and a lot of great saves,'' said South goal scorer Bryson Schmitz.
And a lot of power plays that proved fruitless, submitting to penalty-killing units that carried the evening. South came up empty on seven power-play chances and West drew a bagel on five chances, including a two-man advantage in the first period that lasted a full two minutes.
"Our penalty-killing was phenomenal tonight,'' Swayman said. "Guys got back to the net so I only had to make the first save, and then they got (the puck) out of there.''
Still, Walters and Swayman were the principal reasons West (6-2-1 CIC) and South (6-3-1 CIC) remain locked in a third-place tie in the eight-team league, trailing league-leading Dimond (9-1-0) and Service (7-1-0).
Walters is just a freshman and Swayman a sophomore.
Walters just two minutes into the game made a right-pad save in tight on Noah Ashley's back-hander, a stop so strong Walters' teammate Michael Curran hugged him before the next face-off. Walters made a point-blank save on John Matson in the second period, and later in the period flashed his glove to snare Jonah Hayes' one-timer from the right point.
Walters also shined in overtime, especially during a couple of frantic sequences at the edge of his crease.
"There were probably two or three (saves) where I was scrambling to find the puck,'' Walters said.
Swayman in the previous game between the teams in November made 38 saves to backstop a 3-0 South win.
His gems Tuesday included a blocker save on Alex Bardsley's wrister during West's two-man advantage and a body save on Dawson Ellingworth's wrister on that same power play. In the third period, Swayman shut down Curran's bid on the back door. Early in overtime, he got his right pad on Tanner Edwards' sweeping 2-on-1 shot.
Each goalie tipped his mask to the one guy who beat him.
Schmitz solved Walters just 19 seconds into the second period to stake South to a 1-0 lead. After taking a pass from Ben Trujillo on the left wing, Schmitz unleashed a shot from the bottom of the circle that squeezed between the near post and Walters' right pad, glancing off the back of the goalie's knee and in.
"I was just going to get it on net and at the last minute, I saw him come off his post, so I shot it there -- hope for the best,'' Schmitz said.
Said Walters: "I thought it was a really great shot. He picked a place where I wasn't.''
Yet Walters didn't let that goal from a severe angle derail him.
"You just focus on the next shot,'' he said. "It already went in the net, so there's nothing you can do about it. Play better.''
South's lead held deep into the third period before Bardsley struck. Off assists from Ellingworth and Roman Hamm, Bardsley flicked a wrister through traffic that glanced off the left post and in for a 1-1 tie.
"I saw a defender in front of me, and the only way to get it around him was to shoot to the left,'' Bardsley said.
Swayman, screened by two players, only caught sight of the puck at the last second.
"It was a perfect shot,'' he said.
Dimond 3, Chugiak 2 (OT)
Cody Dearing's second goal of the game, midway through overtime Tuesday night, furnished Dimond with a 3-2 victory over Chugiak at the McDonald Center in Eagle River.
The Lynx turned the Mustangs' zone into a shooting gallery, but Chugiak's Jack Straub made 50 saves. That included 24 in the first period alone and five in extra time before Dearing struck for the game-ending goal.
Dimond led 2-0 through two periods, courtesy of goals from Dearing late in the first period and Chance Peters late in the second period. But the Mustangs forged a 2-2 tie on goals from Rhys Cottle and Nicholas Perez inside the first five minutes of the third period.
Chris Gardeline made 20 saves for the Lynx. Only three penalties were whistled -- two on Dimond and one on Chugiak.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockey-blog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr
GIRLS
Dimond-West 3, Service-East 3
Dimond-West's Hannah Hartwell scored with 8:23 left in the third period Tuesday and that's how things stayed in a 3-3 girls hockey tie with Service-East at the Subway Center.
Service-East led 2-0 after the first period on goals by Emma Beeler and Jaden Trboyevich. Dimond-West countered with second-period goals, getting a score from Jacquline Hartman and tying the game on a strike by Tami Suenram with 2:33 left in the period.
Service-East regained the lead with a Jayla Oja goal early in the third period before Hartwell equalized three minutes later.
Vandalyn Hudson stopped 22 shots for Service-East and Gabi Gibson made 15 saves for Dimond-West.
Dimond-West 8, South-Bartlett 0
Sarah Peters scored two goals and Gabi Gibson made seven saves to propel Dimond-West to an 8-0 girls hockey win Monday at Ben Boeke Arena.
Sydney Tomuro, Taylor Tipton, Ann Roberts, Kendra Robbins, Delaney Maxon and Shilo Cederbereg also scored goals for Dimond-West, which outshot South-Bartlett 38-7.
Haylie Hellman made 30 saves for South-Bartlett.