Back at Sullivan for first time in weeks, Wolverines treat Anchorage crowd to thrilling overtime win

The last time the Anchorage Wolverines played on their home ice at Sullivan Arena was before Thanksgiving — on Nov. 17, when they had notched a fifth-straight win and second sweep in a row of an NAHL Midwest division foe.

After having to play their last 10 games on the road and eight straight games outside Alaska altogether, players and coaches were elated for the chance to be back. On Friday night, the Wolverines didn’t let down the first home crowd at Sullivan Arena in 54 days as they skated to an exciting 4-3 overtime victory.

“It felt awesome just being in the comfort of our own homes and comfort of our own rink and our own schedule,” defenseman Brock Devlin said. “It was really nice and I feel like it helped a lot today.”

He was one of four players to record a goal in the game. Not only was his goal the game-winner in overtime, but it also was the most surprising as he didn’t even think it had a good chance of going in.

“The time was running out, so I know they were kind of scrambling, and then they kind of gave me middle ice there,” Devlin said. “I was at the end of my shift, so I was just really going to shoot it and get off, but it went in.”

Head coach Nick Walters was so caught up preparing his next line shift that he didn’t even see the goal happen live, but he was thrilled all the same.

“The penalty ended so we were still 4-on-4, trying to get lines, I have pairs put together for 3-on-3 so now I’m trying to piece together 4-on-4, honestly I haven’t even seen the goal yet,” Walters said immediately after the game ended. “I saw a celebration.”

While they didn’t come close to having the same attendance level from their home opener — nearly 4,000 fans attended their first home game of the season, marking their long-awaited return to Sullivan Arena — the estimated 2,265 spectators Friday made their presence felt throughout the night.

“The building was electric and our fans are the best in the league, and it’s super fun to play in front of them and get the result that we did,” Devlin said.

The building rumbled whenever a Wolverines player found the back of the net, from the very first goal to the game-winner.

“The crowds are always awesome,” Walters said. “From our viewpoint when we’re looking out, we see seats filled, so that’s always fun for us. And then you get a couple goals, the crowd gets into it and it just makes it that much better of an environment.”

While his team emerged triumphant, snapping a three-game losing streak and earning them their first win of the new year, it was far from a flawless victory.

“I’m not super amped up on this one,” Walters said. “I’m glad we got the job done, they’re not always going to be easy but we talked a lot about our starts this week and we did outshoot them (in the early going) … That’s the way we want to play.”

He thought there were too many ill-advised shots and whiffed attempts, and he said he’d like to see his team more dialed in when on the attack offensively so they can make the most of scoring opportunities when they present themselves.

“I did like our start but now it’s continue going and going,” Walters said. “Make the second period better than the first, make the third period better than your second.”

Having to spend an extended time on the road during the middle of the season presents plenty of challenges, but he is proud of how far his team has come at what is essentially the midway point of the season.

“We kind of break the season down into 10-game segments,” Walters said. “Obviously, we had a really hot start and really hot second 10 games, a little slow in that third chapter there, but that’s what happens when you play 9 out of 10 games on the road. They’re hard. It’s hard to play on the road. I’m still happy with it and we found ways to string wins together, and we’re hoping to do that again.”

Even though Devlin hails from Mission Viejo, California, he has come to see Anchorage as a home away from home because “it’s a hockey town” and he appreciates the passionate fan base he gets to play on front of. He’s confident in the direction the Wolverines are heading.

“I really liked our first 20 games, went on a little bit of a slide for our standards, but we’re looking to jump back on the horse and finish strong,” Devlin said.