Alex Lunski led the Chanhassen boys hockey team in goals as a freshman. Now a junior at Minnetonka, he kept former teammates from their ultimate goal.
Lunski buried the game-winner in the second overtime and secured a 2-1 victory in the Class 2A, Section 2 championship game at sold-out Braemar Arena in Edina. The victory sends the Skippers to next week's state tournament on a 17-game winning streak.
"Jack Sand was behind their net, and I came out front," Lunski said. "He gave me the pass backdoor, and I just put it in. Both of these goalies tonight are really good so I figured the final goal would be scored in front of the net."
Lunski's goal, coming at 2 minutes, 12 seconds of the second overtime, was his 11th of the season. He transferred to Minnetonka as a sophomore before last season.
"He gives us three balanced lines that can play against anybody," Minnetonka coach Sean Goldsworthy said. "He gives us an extra edge late in the game, and that's what happened tonight. I told that line, 'You're going to be the line that cashes in tonight,' and they did."
The Skippers' Luke Garry tied the game 1-1 at 12:18 of the third period with his 13th goal of the season, this one on the power play. The second-seeded Skippers (26-2) were 0-for-4 on the power play in their 4-1 loss Dec. 10 at Chanhassen.
"That was eons ago," Goldsworthy said. "Our lineup is totally different."
Two scoreless periods, co-authored in large part by Minnetonka goalie Kaizer Nelson and his Chanhassen counterpart Kam Hendrickson, gave way to each team netting a goal in the third.
Top seed Chanhassen (24-4) took the initial lead in the first section final in program history. Junior forward Micah Saxon made the most of a fortunate bounce off the end boards and scored his second goal of the season. Saxon had replaced Tyler Smith on the top line in the first two rounds of the playoffs after the latter's upper-body injury.
But Smith played Thursday. He was cleared just nine days after surgery for a broken collarbone suffered Feb. 18 in the regular-season finale.
"He provides a huge lift in terms of his personality and character," Chanhassen coach Sean Bloomfield said. "He's just a warrior."
Both coaches agreed Thursday's game marked an unfortunate ending for one of the two teams ranked among the state's best.
"I thought it was an even game," Bloomfield said. "There were moments where they were better; there were moments where we were better. That's what you want out of a fun hockey game."
