Bismarck High forward Calvin Krueger saw his state championship hopes flash before his eyes with five seconds left in regulation when Williston's Cote Dickerson nearly hit home a rebound in a tie game.
"I thought he was putting it away for sure," Krueger said.
Instead, it was Krueger who put the game away.
The senior scored at 3 minutes, 7 seconds of overtime to lift Bismarck High to a 3-2 victory over Williston on Friday in the semifinals of the North Dakota state boys hockey tournament at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
The Demons advance to the championship game for the second straight season. Bismarck, which lost to Red River in last year's state title, faces the winner of Grand Forks Central and Bismarck Century at approximately 8:30 tonight.
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The Demons have never won a state boys hockey championship.
"Since last year when we lost, we wanted to find a way to get back here and find a way to get it done," Krueger said.
Despite the overtime victory, Bismarck High coach Mike Peluso said the mood in the Demons locker room was low key.
"The feeling is that there is still one left," Peluso said. "It's not done."
Bismarck had to battle back just to see overtime, despite holding an edge in shots on goal. Williston led 2-1 well into the third period.
Peluso said the deficit didn't cause the Demons to panic.
"I thought we were dominating the game, playing hard and physical," Peluso said. "We were playing well enough to win."
Williston, though, clung to a one-goal lead in the third period. After Bismarck's Carson Winkels scored in the second period, Dickerson evened the score at 1-1 at 10:16 of the second period. On the play, Williston's Jordan Nelson dug the puck out of the corner and fed it to Dickerson at the right circle, who beat Demons goalie Lawrence Dvorak to the far side.
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Williston made it 2-1 at 14:26 of the second period. Just a few seconds into a power play, Chaz Mosby redirected a blast from the point by Nelson.
However, the Demons tied it at 2 at 12:29 of the third period when Jake Erickson scored on assists from Winkels and Krueger.
That paved the way for the heroics by Krueger, who was set up by Winkels. Winkels finished with a goal and two assists. The line of Krueger, Winkels and Erickson carried the Demons throughout.
"Those guys find ways to win," Peluso said. "We rely on those guys heavily. My hat's off to Carson, Calvin and Jake."
