Defenseman Josef Ingman sent a pass from the Ice Dogs zone up the middle of the ice to a streaking center Ryan Kero, who skates on the fourth line with Baumann and left wing Cameron Cook.

Kero skated to about the top of the slot and cross-passed the puck to Baumann just outside the right circle. Baumann uncorked a shot that cleared a shoulder of Wilderness goaltender Luke Kania at 6:08 of overtime, and caused the Ice Dogs to clear their bench to mob Baumann amid a thunderous roar from the partisan turnout of 2,242.

“Some may peg them as the fourth line but they were the heroes in overtime and throughout the game,’’ Ice Dogs head coach Trevor Stewart said. “They did a good job, they carried the play and we’ve got to learn from that, and be a little bit better (tonight) and put ourselves in a good position.”

 Game 2 is set for 7:30 tonight. If Minnesota wins, the third game will be played at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Dipper.

If the Ice Dogs win tonight, the rest of the series will be played at the Northwoods Credit Union Arena in Cloquet, Minnesota, starting with game 3 at 4:30 p.m. ADT next Friday. Game 4, if needed, will be played there at the same time next Saturday, and if a fifth game is required, it will be played at 2 p.m. ADT on Sunday, May 8.

The series winner advances to the Roberson Cup Championship Tournamnent on May 12-15 at the Braemer Arena in Edina, Minnesota. The Wilderness won the Cup last year and the Ice Dogs were the 2014 champions and also won in 2011.  

Baumann, in the eventual game-winning situation Friday, intended to just get his shot on net, hoping a teammate would retrieve a rebound and score with it. 

“Usually, the goalie hugs the side the puck is on, and if I’m coming down the right side, he’s going to be leaning toward that side more,’’ Baumann said.

“I usually shoot far pad to get my other teammates or linemates a chance to score if I can’t score,” he continued. “I just threw it there, hoping he would either get a block on it or a pad.”

The Ice Dogs got the first-game win in a rematch of a division series which the Wilderness, of Cloquet, Minnesota, won last year in a three-game sweep. 

Fairbanks center Todd Burgess and Minnesota forward Koby Bender scored in regulation of the game which the teams were equal in many aspects on both ends of the ice. The teams’ respective penalty killing also was perfect, as the Ice Dogs denied the Wilderness’s lone power play and the Wilderness denied three Ice Dogs chances.

“As you can see, a lot of back and forth,’’ Baumann said. “If there’s those little mistakes, one team can capitalize on that. It can be as simple as scoring a goal or getting a great opportunity.”

Burgess, the NAHL Most Valuable Player and Forward of the Year, provided the first goal of the series at 10:59 of the opening period not long after winning a face-off.

The third-year center took linemate Logan Coomes’s pass while positioned in the mid slot and he sent a shot over Kania’s stick-side shoulder. Fellow linemate Ryner Gorowsky produced the initial assist.

“It was good cycle work ...,” Burgess, the league’s leading scorer in the regular season, said. “Logan found me in the middle with a great pass and all I had to do was shoot it where the goalie wasn’t.”

The Wilderness finally got past Ice Dogs goaltender Gavin Nieto’s fortress at 7:46 of the third period with Koby Bender capitalizing on a second chance.

Aaron Miller’s wrap-around attempt from the left side of the crease went off Nieto’s pads, and Bender pounced on the briefly-free puck to sneak it between pads.

Kania (31 saves Friday) and Nieto (19 saves) entered game 1 with the best goals against averages in the NAHL playoffs. Kania had a 1.21 average after the semifinal series against the second-seeded Janesville (Wisconsin) Jets and Nieto, after the semifinal matchup against the fourth-seeded Coulee Region (Wisconsin) Chill, finished with a 1.64 GAA.

The ice Dogs and Wilderness each won those series with 3-1 records.

Other divison finals

The Bismarck Bobcats downed the Austin (Minnesota) Bruins 5-1 in Bismarck, North Dakota in the opening game of the Central Division final series.

The Wichita Falls Wildcats opened the South Division final with a 3-1 win over the Topeka (Kansas) RoadRunners in Wichita Falls, Texas. The Aston Rebels won the first game of the inaugural East Division final series with a 5-2 decision against the Johnstown (Pennsylvania) Tomahawks in Aston, Pennsylvania.

Contact sports editor Danny Martin at 459-7586. Follow him on Twitter:@newsminersports.