Grand Rapids boys hockey defeats White Bear Lake in finals seconds in MSHSL Class 2A state tournament quarterfinal

Nolan Garski put the Thunderhawks up by one with 1.6 seconds remaining

ST. PAUL — The No. 5-seed Grand Rapids Thunderhawks (18-11) defeated the No. 4-seed White Bear Lake Bears (20-8-1) 2-1 in the Class 2A MSHSL boys hockey quarterfinals on Thursday, March 7 at Xcel Energy Center.

Grand Rapids led by one goal with under two minutes when White Bear Lake tied the game on a 4-on-4 with one minute, 34 seconds remaining. Grand Rapids regained a man advantage with under a minute to play, and Nathan Garski scored with 1.6 second remaining.

"It feels great because we kept playing to the last whistle," Grand Rapids head coach Grant Clafton said.

Grand Rapids' William Shermoen scored the only goal in the first two periods. He shot from inside the blue line, and White Bear Lake goaltender Leo Gabriel could not see the puck through traffic and it went into the top right corner. 

Special teams played a key role in the third period. White Bear Lake's Blake Eckerle was called for a 5-minute major for boarding with three minutes remaining, but Grand Rapids' Gavin Forrest was called for a penalty shortly after. 

White Bear Lake's Jack Stanius scored with 1:34 remaining on the 4-on-4. 

"We were in a good position," White Bear Lake head coach Chris Anderson said. "But one mistake leads to a goal in the back of our net."

In the final seconds, and back on a power play, Grand Rapids' William Shermoen threw the puck to a diving Garksi, who put the puck in the back of the net.

"I didn't really know what to feel like," Garski said. "I'm obviously happy for the team."

Goaltender Carter Casey added: "Just chaos after that. I see [Garski] coming down after that and to the student sections. It's like, 'Oh my gosh, we just did this.'"

Unreal, Grand Rapids scores with less than a second to go after White Bear Lake had tied it just 2 minutes before pic.twitter.com/aPKXahB9dv

— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) March 8, 2024

White Bear Lake had been building momentum throughout the second and third period. The Bears outshot the Thunderhawks 18 to 11 in those periods. 

"After the first five minutes of the game or so, we felt like we controlled most of the game," Anderson said. "We were offensively, we were sticking to our process. ... The rest of our bench felt like our time was coming."

For White Bear Lake, its the 20th time the program has lost in the opening round. 

"The quarterfinal thing isn't a thing for us," Anderson said. "At the end of the day, grand Rapids is a great hockey team."

Grand Rapids will play No. 1-seed Edina in the Class 2A semifinals on Friday, March 8 at 8 p.m. at Xcel Energy Center. 

"We're playing for the northern representation in [Class 2A]," Clafton said. "It feels good. It feels good to play with pride. We know that we got Northern Minnesota cheering for us."

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- Jack Butler | butler@scorebooklive.com | @Butler917