Resilient Wolverines rally in 3rd period to force overtime and beat Chippewa Steel in shootout

Even though the Anchorage Wolverines were the first to strike on Friday night in the first contest of their two-game series against the Chippewa Steel, head coach Nick Walters felt like his team was lagging through the first two periods.

They fell into a 4-2 deficit heading into the third period, which is when they started playing more like themselves to force overtime and eventually win 5-4 in a shootout.

“Sleepy start. I didn’t love our first two periods, and we were just flat for whatever reason,” Walters said. “Finally, we woke up in the third, got a little kick in the butt there, and we finally got to playing our game. Pressure everywhere, high tempo, skating, transitioning, shooting with confidence.”

Although it seemed like something changed about midway through the third period, he insisted that no switch flipped.

“For these guys, they’re young and it’s a learning lesson,” Walters said. “It just doesn’t happen. Winning doesn’t happen without the work, and I just don’t know if we were ready to work. The first period was über sloppy. Second period was a little better, but I still didn’t love it. Third period, we finally got there.”

The player who delivered the final dagger to complete the Wolverines’ tenacious comeback was none other than team captain Jackson Stimple, who got the puck behind Chippewa goalie Devin Shakar for the second successful attempt after forward Brock Devlin recorded the first.

“Everybody wants to be the hero, and every once in a while you get the opportunity to be the guy one night, so it feels amazing,” Stimple said.

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Anchorage Wolverines captain Jackson Stimple is surrounded by his team after making the game-winning shot during a shootout with the Chippewa Steel on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024 at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage. The Wolverines came back from a 4-2 deficit to win in a shootout. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Walters credited assistant coach Sam Graham for suggesting that Stimple be the next man up to try to win the game with a second successful shootout attempt as the team had already trotted out their top five options.

“I kind of worked through the guys that I had on my card and I was like, ‘Who do you want next?’ And he was like, ‘I think Stimple wants it,’ and I was, ‘All right, Stimple’ — and he delivered,” he said.

During Friday’s game, many of the Wolverines showed just how resilient they were.

“Our team has always prided ourselves on staying with it, staying in it and trying not to get too high or too low, and that’s what we did here tonight,” Stimple said. “We battled back, popped a couple pretty goals and won a hockey game.”

That mindset is something they all share, from the coaches to the players, thanks to some of the continuity from last season’s team.

“What I like about this group, and I think it bled over from last year just with the returners that we have, is that it’s a resilient group,” Walters said. “There is no quit, so even when you’re down 4-2, they know they’re going to compete until the end buzzer.”

Even though it took them two periods to get going, he knew his team would never give up or stop fighting.

“That’s two games in a row that we’ve battled back and, I’d say, probably stole the game,” Walters said.

While Stimple was a hero in the end, he wouldn’t have been in a position to seal the victory had it not been for the clutch play of backup goalie Roberto Leonardo Henriquez. He entered the game at the start of the third period and closed it out after starter Vaughn Makar of Anchorage, who wasn’t feeling well following a penalized collision in the second period, had to leave the game.

Henriquez took the ice with a mindset of “you deliver for me, I deliver for you,” and that’s what happened. He went 16-of-16 on saves in 25 minutes of action between the third period and overtime combined and only allowed the first of the Steel’s six shots on goal in the shootout to get behind him before denying the next five straight.

“It’s definitely hard, but every game, I prepare like I’m playing even if I’m not, and that helps me a lot when these situations happen,” Henriquez said.

With the win, the Wolverines extended their winning streak to four in a row. This was their second straight win in which they had to rally back from down 4-2 in the third period to force overtime — except last week, they avoided a shootout.

“We’re a third-period team,” Henriquez said. “This happens way too often, way more than I’d like it to, but we’re resilient, don’t back down and never give up.”

Even though Sullivan Arena wasn’t packed to the brim with fans, those in attendance were still loud and proud, which energized the players as they mounted their comeback.

“We love the people of Anchorage, we love the energy they bring to the rink and we absolutely feed off that energy,” Stimple said. “We hope it continues.”