Duluth Denfeld senior goaltender River Alander may be a Frank Brimsek Award nominee, given to the state’s top senior goaltender, but individual accolades take a back seat when Minnesota celebrates its hockey heritage.

Alander was pulled from between the pipes with the Hunters nursing a 2-1 lead after two periods in favor of fellow senior Brandon Johnson, a move that Hunters’ coach Kevin Smalley says was impervious to the score of the game.

“I don’t care what the circumstances were, (Johnson) deserved to play too,” Smalley said.

Who was in net didn’t matter as the Hunters scored four unanswered goals, en route to a 5-2 win over Eveleth-Gilbert (6-17-1) in the opening game of Hockey Day Minnesota 2016.

Five players scored for the Hunters (11-11-1), with junior defenseman Jake Herrold tying the game early in the second period, and senior forwards Logan Parzych, Adam Shykes, Dylan Skorich and Kadin Ferguson adding one goal each.

Sophomore forward Cody Hendrickson and senior forward Nick Przybylski scored for the Golden Bears.

Alander, a captain and varsity contributor since his sophomore season, added that his bond with Johnson made it easy to relinquish the crease.

“The plan was to get everybody ice time, so I knew it was coming,” Alander said. “(Brandon and I) are very good friends, so there’s no harm.”

Alander skated for the Duluth Heights youth program, while Smalley played for the Duluth Merritt youth team, and both share the pride that comes with hosting Hockey Day.

“It feels pretty special,” Alander said. “It shows the community that you can still play outdoors, and it shows how special Duluth can be.”

“(It’s been) unbelievable,” Smalley said with a smile. “This morning going into the locker room, you could just sense so much excitement,” Smalley said.

The Hunters’ “locker room” for the game was a re-purposed shipping container, which Smalley jokingly says he didn’t set foot in.

“(The players) understood what was at stake, they understood what they needed to do,” Smalley said. “It was very simple for me to stay out of the container today.”