After double-shifting from the opening face-off and through three overtimes, grinding through the vestiges of illness that has wracked his team and delivering the backhander that fulfilled the dream, Sutton McDonald was thankful his jubilant Eagle River teammates swarmed him so tightly Tuesday night that they furnished more support than his weary legs could muster.
"I just hung there,'' McDonald said. "I couldn't stand. I was so tired. Our whole team is gassed.''
And then the sophomore winger laughed and grinned, shook his head and exhaled, and grinned again.
Eagle River 2, South 1 — in triple overtime, no less.
McDonald's backhand of his own rebound at 3:11 of the third overtime at Ben Boeke Arena earned the Wolves their first trip to the state high school hockey tournament in the school's 11 seasons.
Eagle River's victory came in the opening round of the Cook Inlet Conference playoffs, where the quarterfinal winners each earn a berth to next week's state tournament.
Equal to McDonald's bliss was no doubt the happiness of junior defenseman Connor Canterbury. When McDonald scored, Canterbury was in the penalty box, serving a coincidental minor penalty for roughing, and berating himself.
"I thought, 'What have I done? What was I thinking?' " Canterbury recounted. "This isn't a throwaway game. I was furious with myself.''
And then he was free. He opened the penalty box door himself and joined the jubilation on ice.
"Every year since freshman year, I've been dreaming of this,'' Canterbury said after he and his teammates celebrated in their locker room. "We lost to West in double overtime (last year). It was devastating. It was heart-breaking.''
The broken hearts Tuesday belonged to the Wolverines. They had not only qualified for the state tournament in all 10 seasons of their school's existence, but seized five state titles in that time. And they postponed season's end Tuesday when freshman defenseman Kolby Klingenmeyer's shot from atop the right circle, with goaltender Max Irwin off for an extra attacker, forged a 1-1 tie with 52 seconds left in regulation.
And so the teams, No. 3-seeded Eagle River and No. 6-seeded South, played on after 45 minutes of regulation for another eight minutes of overtime, and then another eight minutes of OT — and it decided nothing. Another eight minutes were set on the clock.
Through all that post-regulation time, each shot on net was met in the crowd by anxiety for one side's supporters and the promising first hints of elation by the other.
All that time, Eagle River relied almost exclusively on two forward lines and four defensemen. The Wolves' third line played perhaps one shift a period, though it's worth noting the line checked in with an even rating — it did not surrender a goal.
Also, one of Eagle River's defenseman is actually a center. Senior Schuyler Davis made his debut on the blue line because of a recent injury to a teammate.
He did not look the least out of sorts. At one point, Canterbury said, he turned to Davis on the bench and told him, "Dude, you're playing phenomenal."
Goaltenders were no less stellar. Irwin stopped 41 shots for South, and Eagle River's Trent Burnham dismissed 29 shots.
The game was scoreless for 42 minutes before McDonald broke through. His power-play slapshot from the right point, after he held a South clearing attempt inside the zone, somehow maneuvered through net-front traffic and past Irwin for a 1-0 lead.
Just three seconds after the ensuing face-off, though, Eagle River was penalized. South failed to convert, but shortly after Irwin left his net and raced to the bench to be replaced by an extra attacker, Connor Orr found Klingenmeyer open — 1-1 tie.
In overtime, McDonald, who was assisted by linemates Ben Rinckey and Joshua Linn, fished the puck from the skates of a Wolverines defender in the left circle. He turned and fired on Irwin, who rebuffed the bid. Then McDonald did what every coach preaches — he went to the net and followed his shot.
A split-second later, he was the boy at the center of huddle of joy. The Wolves for the first time in school history were state-bound, even though they know more CIC playoff games await.
"It's huge,'' McDonald said. "We wanted it so bad. We showed it in three overtimes. It's crazy. Half our team is ill. It's crazy.''
Again, Canterbury matched his teammate's exhilaration.
"I'm drunk on happiness,'' Canterbury said.
Dimond 4, East 0
Second-seeded Dimond shut out seventh-seeded East 4-0 Tuesday at the McDonald Center in the first round of the Cook Inlet Conference boys hockey tournament.
The win advances the Lynx to the semifinals, where they'll play Eagle River on Thursday. It also qualifies them for the state tournament Feb. 11-13 at the Menard Sports Center.
Dimond opened with a first-period goal from Tanner Dey.
The Lynx kept the one-goal lead going into the third period before scoring three more goals, including a short-handed goal by Ryan Perius.
Dimond goaltender Chris Gardeline stopped 11 shots, and East goaltender Lane Fox had 28 saves.
Cook Inlet Conference tournament
Tuesday's results
Eagle River 2, South 1, 3OT
Dimond 4, East 0
Thursday's games
6:30 p.m. — West vs. Chugiak, Ben Boeke Arena
7:15 p.m. — Dimond vs. Eagle River, McDonald Center