Carter McEachern hadn't played since Feb. 25 and hadn't won a game in more than two months.
But with internal disciplinary action tossing starting goalie Marc Nother to the sidelines, the second-year McEachern found himself between the pipes Tuesday night, facing the tournament-favourite Stouffville Spirit.
He almost pulled it off.
The rookie netminder made 31 saves, but wound up taking the 2-1 loss when Chris Porter beat him with a high wrist shot that snuck under the crossbar 2:41 into the first overtime period, spoiling the North Stars 2012 debut at the Dudley Hewitt Cup.
"It's definitely tough. Goaltending is a position where you want to get shots all the time and you want to be in the flow of the game. To come in somewhat cold is difficult, but it's playoff hockey and you live to play for this," McEachern said.
North Stars coach Lonny Bohonos had little to say about the team-imposed suspension – the club has also parted ways with siblings Marshall and Mitchell Fox since bowing out to Wisconsin in Round 2 of the Superior International Junior Hockey League playoffs.
But he was proud of the performance turned in by his back-up.
"Since I've been here Carter's played against Wisconsin and against the Fort, and he's played really well," said Bohonos, the former NHLer who took over the North Stars reins with a month to go in the regular season.
"I have all the confidence in him and it showed tonight. He played great. His hard work has paid off all year and it showed tonight."
Just who will be between the pipes on Wednesday night, when the Stars take on the Soo Thunderbirds (1-0), remains a mystery.
Bohonos wasn't giving away any secrets ahead of time.
"We'll just regroup and analyze the game tonight, and we'll figure out what we're going to do tomorrow," he said.
What they did on Tuesday was hang with a pretty good hockey club for 60 minutes and beyond.
Christian Powers opened the scoring for the Spirit midway through the first, but three minutes later Tyler Osborne wound and fired from just inside the blueline, his shot tipped past Stouffville goalie Jonathan Hall to tie the score at a goal apiece.
It was the last goal either team would score in regulation.
"I give credit to their goalie," said Stoufville defender Paul Geiger. "He played really well. We got a lot of shots on him and couldn't get many by him. We weren't ourselves really, today. We couldn't get the puck deep or move our feet as well as we're used to.
"But we're going to make adjustments tomorrow. But give credit to them, they played really well."
The pressure is enormous on the Spirit, the Ontario Junior Hockey League champion. The OJHL has produced the past five Dudley Hewitt Cup title-winners, and Geiger said they don't want the streak to end.
"There's a little bit of added pressure from the league for us to come out on top. But we're confident and we'll be fine."
The Stars had a couple of chances to win it in regulation. Dylan Mascarin nearly completed a wraparound in the first half of the third, then four minutes later Matt Kaarela fed a beautiful pass to rookie Bryce Knapp, who nearly tipped it through Hall's five-hole.
Porter had a shot of his own later in the third, blasting a wicked wrist shot that McEachern snagged with a quick glove.
Star gazing: Stouffville will take on Wisconsin in the matinee match on Wednesday, with the Soo and Thunder Bay clashing in the evening match.
First period
Scoring: 1. Stouffville, C. Powers 1 (Geiger, Caggiula) 9:59 pp. 2. Thunder Bay, Dubinsky 1 (Osborne, Rempel) 12:57. Penalties: Caggiula STO (tripping) 3:22, Howarth TB (hooking) 6:25, Orosey TB (charging) 8:44. Lapenskie TB (boarding), Chapman STO (charging) 13:59, Kaarela TB (slashing) 14:58.
Second period
Scoring: None. Penalties: Heffernan STO (holding) 5:05, Powers STO (hooking) 7:18, Kaarela TB (hooking) 11:05, Prout TB (slashing) 15:06. Caggiula STO (roughing), Wolframe TB (roughing) 16:29.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: None. Penalties: C. Powers STO (interference) 13:27, Rempel TB (roughing) 16:10, Caggiula STO (slashing) 16:37.
OVERTIME
Scoring: 3. Stouffville, Porter (Hall) 2:41. Penalties: None.
GAME DATA – SOG – Stouffville 11-11-9-2-33, Thunder Bay 5-6-10-0-21; Power plays (goals-chances) – Stouffville (1-6) Thunder Bay (0-5); Goaltenders – Stouffville: Jonathan Hall, Thunder Bay: Carter McEachern; A: 1,379.
