The Durango High School hockey team showed a lot of resilience and composure in its 4-3 overtime win over Kent Denver at home Friday night in the first round of the 4A state playoffs.
After allowing two consecutive goals to go down 2-1, the No. 8 seeded Demons stormed back with two goals in the third period to take a 3-2 lead.
The game seemed like it was the Demons’ until disaster struck. No. 9 seed Kent Denver won a faceoff with nine seconds left and scored with three seconds left to tie the game, send it into overtime and shock the Durango fans and players.
But Durango was composed enough to come out ready to play in overtime. Kent Denver goaltender Reid Wilfley couldn’t control a pass played back to him. Durango junior forward Sawyer Jones was there, ready to capitalize. He hit the puck in front of the net, it was deflected high into the air and fell into the net to give Durango the game-winner in overtime and send Chapman Hill Ice Rink into bedlam.
“We keep asking them to dig deeper, go harder and find another gear; they continue to listen,” Durango interim head coach Will Daniels said. “I couldn't be more proud of that group. They persevered. We've been asking them to try and hold on to those emotions and not get too high and too low and keep our composure. It wasn’t working all the time, but in the third period and overtime they did exactly that.”
The Demons improved to 11-8-1 overall. Durango junior forward Wynn Daniels scored two goals; junior Leyton Holbrook had a goal and an assist. Senior goaltender Evan Brock played the entire game for the Demons and had a great game, keeping Durango within striking distance when it was down or had troubles with penalties. His stats weren’t available when this article was published.
Kent Denver finished its season at 11-7-2 overall. Ryan Oxenreider had two goals for Kent Denver. Wilfley stymied Durango’s offense for long stretches with his play. His stats weren’t available when this article was published.
The already late start time of 7:30 p.m. was delayed even more early in the first period as a pain of glass came loose on the boards which required immediate attention to fix it.
Durango struck first with a good amount of persistence. Durango hit Wilfley with a shot that he couldn’t handle and the puck slid to the left of the cage. Senior defender Mason Rhodus hit the puck across the net. Waiting there was Daniels, ready to put it home on an open net to put Durango up 1-0 with 8:25 left in the first.
Kent Denver tied it up similarly to Durango’s first goal. There was a lot of traffic in front of the net; after a few failed attempts, a Kent Denver player poked it into the left side of the net for the equalizer with 4:40 left. The game went into the second period tied at 1-1.
Daniels had the first big chance of the second period with 15:20 to go. A few skaters fell around the center line, Daniels got the puck on the left side and glided in for a one-on-one chance with Wilfley. Unfortunately for Durango fans, Daniels’ shot was pushed away and the game remained tied.
Oxenreider took the lead for Kent Denver with 13:21 to go in the second. He got the puck in Kent Denver’s offensive zone on the left side and sneaked it past Brock’s stick side to go up 2-1.
Durango was a little sloppy with its passes in the middle of the second in the neutral and offensive zone. Still, the Demons pressured the Kent Denver defense but couldn’t get a lot of quality looks on the goal through the traffic.
Kent Denver ended the second period with a lot of pressure on the Durango defense but Brock made a few big saves.
The Sun Devils had a great chance to go up 3-1 less than a minute into the third as the right side opened up for Jack Donovan. Brock caught the shot to keep Durango within striking distance.
Durango went down a man multiple times in the third. Brock did a great job with some key stops and Durango had a few good looks down a man but couldn’t convert a few 2v1 opportunities with Wilfley being a brick wall.
Holbrook finally got around Wilfley and tied the game. Holbrook received a pass and finished from close range in the top right corner to tie the game 2-2 with 7:20 left.
Both teams battled back and forth until Daniels found the back of the net with 1:56 left. Holbrook skated beautifully down the left side and passed the puck across the goal to Daniels, who stickhandled around Wilfley and to the back of the net.
“Leyton has incredible composure all the time,” Coach Daniels said. “He sets an example that we ask the team to follow. He keeps those emotions in check and he makes every play. That and the combination with the hard work on the other side of the line, as well as the other lines, it just got the team buzzing.”
The Sun Devils’ tying goal with three seconds left in regulation affected some of the Durango players in the locker room, with those players thinking the Demons blew the game, according to Coach Daniels. But Coach Daniels reorganized the group, telling them it was 0-0 now and the team had to put all their frustrations behind them and start over.
Daniels’ words of wisdom must’ve worked as the Demons scored the golden goal about halfway through the eight-minute overtime period to advance in the playoffs.
Durango will face No. 1 seed Glenwood Springs on Tuesday at 7:45 p.m. in Aspen at Lewis Ice Arena. Glenwood Springs is 16-1-1 overall and finished first in the 4A Mountain League at 13-1.
Glenwood Springs beat Durango twice in early January, 5-3 and 3-1.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
