Merrimack hockey players have a stunned feeling after losing a tough Division II quarterfinal to Spaulding in overtime on Saturday evening in Manchester. (Telegraph photo by Jack Belanger)

MANCHESTER — Sometimes all it takes to change the outcome of a hockey game is a single bounce of the puck as Merrimack High School boys ice hockey head coach Dan Belliveau has learned through his years of coaching.

That never felt more true after his top-seed Tomahawks lost their quarterfinal matchup against the eight-seed Spaulding Red Raiders 3-2 in double-overtime on a penalty shot goal at West Side Arena.

Despite the Tomahawks outshooting them 14-7, the Red Raiders got the puck to bounce their way. After a turnover at mid-ice, Spaulding forward Logan Baker found himself on a breakaway with one defender to beat. In a last ditch effort to prevent a shot, Merrimack’s Noah Kahn tried knocking the puck loose from behind, tripping Baker and getting called for tripping.

Since Baker was on a breakaway, he was rewarded with a penalty shot. Skating up the ice facing Merrimack goalie James Brew, Baker wristed a shot that snuck below Brew’s glove for the game winner.

“We knew we had a massive task ahead of us,” Belliveau said. “I can’t say enough about how these kids played with so much heart, right from our goalie outwards. It came down to heart.”

Merrimack, who beat Spaulding 3-2 in the regular season, started the first period slowly, putting only three shots on net. Things seemed to get worse when Spaulding’s Tyler Jean scored on a one-timer pass from Trevor Brennen just over a minute into the second period to put Spaulding up 1-0.

It wasn’t until 5:38 left in the period when Merrimack, on the power play, won the face-off in the Spaulding end of the ice. Defenseman Conor Dunn got the puck and made a cross-ice pass to Kahn who launched a shot to the back of the net to tie the game.

“[The first goal] helped narrow our focus,” said Belliveau. “We have been very good on the power play all year. Once we got one, it opened things up for us and the kids got a little looser. From there we thought we were going to win the game.”

Less than a minute later, Will Farrell found the net off a close rebound in front of the goalie to put Merrimack up 2-1, a lead they would hold into the third period.

In the third, Spaulding tied the game on a shot from the wing by Ryan Dube.

A scary moment occurred late in the third period. Merrimack’s Cam Bellemore attempted to make a check, but lost balance and collided head first with the wall. Eventually he was rolled onto a stretcher and was taken to the hospital to be tested for any head injuries.

With the extended pause and the loss of a teammate, the Tomahawks could have lost their focus, but instead their effort increased, controlling the puck for the majority of the rest of the game. Merrimack created plenty of scoring opportunities for itself, but couldn’t get any shot to sneak in.

“The kids are such a close-knit group,” Belliveau said of his team coming through after losing Bellemore. “The whole mantra this year was believing in one another and working for each other. Rather than saying ‘Win one for the team’, we put it in reverse and said ‘It’s the team for the win.'”

Despite finishing the regular season 15-2-1, the Tomahawks failed to follow up on their finals run from last season. Spaulding will play Dover High School in the semi-final round.

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