In years past, the months of February and March were daunting for Arizona State, with one loss all but knocking ASU out of contention for the NCAA tournament. As an independent, the Sun Devils couldn’t afford to have an off-game with teams in conferences that are more likely to receive the at-large bids to the postseason.
That was before ASU joined the NCHC, where this year, it can brush a weekend split off its shoulders and focus on the last three weeks of conference play. Currently tied for second place with Omaha at 37 points in the NCHC standings, the Sun Devils are a handful of wins away from hosting a conference tournament game at Mullet Arena, and a semifinal appearance in Minneapolis all but punches their ticket to the NCAA tournament.
“Normally, at this point, we’re on a downhill trend trying to stay alive,” associate coach Alex Hicks said. “Now we’re playing great teams every weekend, and nothing’s going to change. To have this team and continue to play teams that are better and better each week is really exciting. To motivate them for each practice even when Coach (Greg) Powers isn’t here and see their commitment level has been really good.”
No. 10 ASU kept its postseason hopes alive and well with a 6-5 overtime win on Saturday over No. 6 Denver, a series that displayed immense resilience from the Sun Devils. After tying up Friday’s game late in the third but falling in overtime, ASU came back with a second wind to salvage the weekend and avoid the reverse sweep.
“When you get kicked in the teeth, you want to respond,” sophomore forward Kyle Smolen mentioned. “We got kicked in the teeth Friday night, so we really wanted the second game, and I think we all earned it. We just have to remind each other that’s the standard now. If we want to be a championship team, we have to hold that standard and be true to it the rest of the year.”
The penalty kill for ASU held strong against the top power-play unit in the country on Friday, killing all three man advantages, but the Pioneers found the answer Saturday night and scored twice on the power play. ASU will be without one of its top killers in graduate forward Benji Eckerle for the season due to an Achilles injury, but that was a given heading into the weekend.
Powers also lost graduate forward Dylan Jackson last weekend, but he’ll attempt to return from injury this coming series against Minnesota Duluth. From Hicks' tone, though, they might stash him for another series with the season finishing up against two top-20 teams in No. 3 Western Michigan and No. 20 Omaha.
“They’re a good team, and we were down a guy at the end of the day,” Smolenn commented. “They know how to score, and we just have to watch the tape, figure out what we did wrong, and just get back to what we do. We got away from our intensity a bit and got all over the place, but I think we just have to get back to our mentality.”
At one point on Saturday, in the third quarter, ASU trailed Denver 5-3 and was desperate for a spark. Graduate forward Lukas Sillinger took the initiative, getting out on a breakaway and scoring to bring the game within a goal. Just a few minutes later, the Sun Devils tied the game 5-5.
Sillinger started the year slow on the stat sheet, totaling 10 points in his first 15 games. However, in the last 11 games, he’s scored 18 points and has been a massive spark plug, helping the team go 8-3 in that stretch.
“When you start scoring, your confidence and excitement goes up,” Hicks added. “I told Powers after he got his first that I think he’s going to score 10 or 12, and he’s on that trajectory. He’s really improved on his defensive side and with turnovers, but I think the way we let him play and use his experience is really paying dividends. He trusts us, and we definitely trust him.”
Sillinger came into this year as a veteran in a locker room featuring an abundance of fresh faces. The team feeds off his energy and passion, which was on display during the Denver series. His commitment to the team and the sport of hockey has been reflected in his play on the ice as the team continues to grow together.
“He’s somebody we all look up to,” senior forward Ryan Kirwan expressed. “He’s a special talent, but he also works really hard. He’s at the rink until 1 pm every day, and he just loves hockey. We feed off of him, and it’s great to see him get intense like that.”
The Sun Devils will look to carry their momentum from Saturday up north against a Minnesota Duluth team that ASU already swept at home. Still, no team in the NCHC is incapable of shocking their opponents on any given weekend. The Bulldogs may be heading into the weekend on a three-game losing streak, but they also split their series with Denver just two weeks ago.
“In my opinion, Duluth is notorious for starting slow,” Hicks voiced. “If you look at their national championship teams, they were just above .500 for most of the season, but they’re well coached and they work hard. Playing in that place is no joke, and we know what we’re going into. We’re excited to go, but we know it’s going to be a challenge.”
The Sun Devils beat Duluth 5-3 and 3-2 back in December but still have some things to clean up on the ice. The Bulldogs use their speed and strength to overpower teams, but it can backfire on them quickly if a team knows how to exploit it. ASU has two games worth of film on Duluth to sift through in the coming days but may have to take it with a grain of salt when it comes to what the Sun Devils will see on the ice Friday.
“We’re definitely going to make some adjustments on how they played last time around,” Hicks stated. “They play a really good style and a hard style to play against. Sometimes, when you play as hard as they do, you get out of position. They’re a team that gets better as the year goes by, so whatever we saw in the first series, they’re going to be improved on that tenfold.”
With three weeks left in the regular season, the top three spots in the NCHC are within three points of each other. Even with a nine-point differential between third and fourth place, each weekend is a 12-point swing, with every regulation win counting for 3 points. The gap can be closed in a short amount of time, and ASU doesn’t want to be on the wrong side of that.
“It’s really tight, and that means we can’t take a shift off,” Smolen declared. “You can’t let off the gas in any way, otherwise the teams behind you will catch up. It’s just about keeping the pedal to the metal, and we just have to keep going and playing our brand of hockey.”
The PairWise rankings still have the Sun Devils at No. 13, just inside the 14 teams that will be selected for the NCAA tournament. The players' confidence is high after the crucial Saturday win, and they feel their ranking doesn’t reflect their level of play. ASU is 14-3 in its last 17 games and isn’t exactly a group that teams are lining up to play right now.
“I can’t put a number on it; I think our play speaks for itself,” Smolen remarked. “Anyone can put a number on it, but we’re one of the best, if not the best, team in the country. Every time we step on the ice that’s our attitude, and we believe we could beat anybody at any moment as long as we’re playing up to our standard.”
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