Arizona State entered this weekend just one game behind first place in the NCHC conference, with North Dakota claiming the throne. However, a Fighting Hawks loss and an ASU win on Friday night resulted in the Sun Devils sitting atop the conference with a chance to extend their lead and complete a second consecutive road sweep.
With a 5-3 win over St. Cloud State (11-11, 4-8 NCHC), Arizona State (13-8-1, 8-4 NCHC) holds a two-game lead in the NCHC while leaping up to No. 12 in the PairWise rankings. After ASU lost in overtime last week to North Dakota to end an eight-game win streak, the confidence level of head coach Greg Powers never faltered.
Although the Huskies were ranked No. 15 heading into the weekend, they were losers in six of their last seven games. While they kept the pressure up on Arizona State at times and held them to just a goal through two periods, ASU took charge when it mattered most. The Sun Devils scored four goals in the third period, three of them off of a single power play.
Early into the third period, sophomore forward Tyson Gross was issued a five-minute major penalty for game misconduct after shoving junior forward Bennet Schimek into the boards. Arizona State got right to work and graduate forward Ty Jackson buried a one-timer for the first power-play goal less than a minute into the man advantage.
Because the penalty was a major, ASU stayed on the power play for another four minutes and scored two more goals to catapult the Sun Devils to a 4-1 lead five minutes into the third period. The Huskies came back late in the period with two goals, but graduate forward Artem Shlaine took the puck at center ice and shot an emphatic goal into the Huskies’ empty net for the 5-3 victory.
About a minute before Shlaine’s nail in the coffin, the Huskies were deep in ASU’s zone and had numbers with the extra man on the ice. With the net nearly wide-open, junior goaltender Gibson Homer desperately dove outside the crease, and his stick and body nicked the puck enough to deflect it out of harm's way.
This was just one of the countless plays that Homer made over the course of the weekend as he picked up a fourth straight win. He continues to show why he’s on the Mike Richter Award Watch List as one of the best netminders in the country, and he shows no signs of slowing down, sitting tenth in the country with a .932 save percentage.
Powers mentioned earlier in the week that Arizona State needed a push from its special teams this weekend after scoring three power-play goals against North Dakota, and his players delivered. Four of the five goals were on the power play, finishing with five total after scoring one on Friday night.
As the season wears on, the Sun Devils are slowly getting healthier. Most notably junior forward Cruz Lucius, who returned against North Dakota. The line of Lucius Schimek and freshman forward Cullen Potter started for Powers Saturday night and assisted on two of the goals tonight. The on-ice chemistry for all lines on Saturday was noticeably better than on Friday, and the third period displayed it.
The Huskies had ASU’s number when it came to faceoffs on Friday night, winning the battle 39-20. This came as no surprise, with St. Cloud State coming into the weekend sixth in the country in faceoff percentage (54.5%), but Arizona State refused to back down. The Sun Devils beat the Huskies at their own game, owning the faceoff circle 35-29.
This game undoubtedly came down to special teams and undisciplined play, as the Huskies finished with 25 penalty minutes compared to Arizona State’s six minutes in the box. In the second period, the Huskies had the Sun Devils on their heels for the majority of the 20 minutes as they came up with several 50/50 pucks, but Homer stood tall and allowed ASU to stay even with St. Cloud State before coming out of the gates hot in the third.
Now, the Sun Devils head back home in full control of the NCHC to host No. 18 Colorado College, ASU's only loss on the road in conference play. This weekend, Arizona State proved that traveling from 65º weather in Tempe to negative temperatures didn’t affect the players too much. Now, returning home as one of the hotter teams in the country, the Sun Devils will look to continue their stretch of sufficient play.
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