Sports

Dimond goalie Gardeline banks a better memory in win over West

When Dimond's Chris Gardeline last faced West, he endured a goaltender's hat trick of hockey horrors – three shots, three goals, and the skate of shame to the bench.

He still recalls it as the worst game of his career. At home later that December evening, long after he got the hook, Gardeline replayed in his mind, over and over and over, the goals he surrendered. That Lynx loss, the junior believed, was all on him.

Tuesday night, playing the same opponent on the same rink, Gardeline replaced those distressing memories with something uplifting – 20 saves that helped propel Dimond to a 5-2 Cook Inlet Conference victory at Ben Boeke Arena.

"I wanted some redemption, for sure,'' Gardeline said. "I wanted to make a statement and show I can stop the puck.''

Buoyed by two goals from Ryan Perius, single strikes from Austin Fitzgerald, Cody Dearing and Halen Herndon, and two assists each from hard-hitting Chance Peters and Tanner Rath, the Lynx (11-2-0 CIC) assured themselves no worse than a second-place finish in the CIC regular season.

They also avenged that earlier 4-1 loss to West (8-4-1 CIC), which, truthfully, didn't hinge completely on Gardeline and the three goals he gave up in a 58-second span early in the first period. West's first goal that night ricocheted in off a Dimond player. And their next two goals came from Eagles left unchecked in the low slot.

Still, Gardeline got caught playing too deep in his net, and that 3-0 West lead inside the opening four minutes was too much for Dimond to crack.

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"We left him hung out to dry, and he had his heels on the goal line, so that was one of those nights,'' said Dimond coach Dennis Sorenson.

The onslaught rattled Gardeline.

"It really shook me up,'' he said.

At the other end of the ice that night, West freshman Jack Walters was money, making 22 saves.

Tuesday, Walters was the masked man who suffered, giving up four goals on six shots before giving way to Christopher Alexakis early in the second period.

The goal that especially burned Walters was more a dump-in than a shot, and one he can usually stop in his sleep. With Dimond leading 1-0 on Perius' first goal, a slot wrister off Tyler Dunn's centering pass, Lynx forward Austin Fitzgerald from neutral ice softly slid the puck into West's zone.

Walters attempted to play the puck to one of his defensemen, but whiffed – 2-0 Dimond.

"I got too anxious on the puck,'' Walters explained.

Gardeline can relate – the guys in the goalies union feel for each other.

"I felt sorry for him,'' Gardeline said. "That's happened to all of us.''

Gardeline began Tuesday's game with two sharp stops on Codie Cope, and made another strong save on Cope late in the first period. Those saves boosted Gardeline's confidence.

"That mentality is, 'I'm stopping pucks,' '' he said.

Dimond stretched its lead to 4-0 early in the second period when Perious fired a rebound into an open net after Peter Egrass' shot rang off iron and Dearing followed with a goal from the slot. Dearing's goal chased Walters in favor of Alexakis, who stopped 11 of 12 shots the rest of the way.

The only goals Gardeline surrendered came in the third period. Kevin Hodsdon's wrister from the slot banked in off a Dimond player. Michael Curran's short-handed breakaway was a beauty – Curran moved from Gardeline's right to left and slipped a forehand between his pads.

But Gardeline earned the victory and a better memory of playing West.

Walters, meanwhile, met disappointment with maturity.

"It's over,'' he said. "Got a game Friday.''

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Chugiak 11, Bartlett 0

A seven-goal second period carried Chugiak to an 11-0 CIC hockey win over Bartlett at the McDonald Center.

Eight players delivered goals, including Zachary Krajnik, Andrew Beckett and John Hammer, who scored two apiece. Sam Hanson distributed five assists for the Mustangs, who led 1-0 after one period and 8-0 after two.

Bartlett goaltender Blayze Denton stopped 35 shots.

Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockey-blog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr

Doyle Woody

Doyle Woody covered hockey and other sports for the Anchorage Daily News for 34 years.

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