No. 13 Arizona State has started its first year in the NCHC conference extremely fast, sitting at 6-4, second behind No. 16 North Dakota. Just 30 seconds away from taking the top spot with a 3-2 lead over the Fighting Hawks in the third period, ASU gave up a late goal to send the game to overtime, where North Dakota won and secured a one-game lead over the Sun Devils in the NCHC standings.
Head coach Greg Powers isn’t worried about his team’s loss as the Sun Devils won eight straight games leading up to the loss, but with a 1-3-1 record in overtime this season, there’s certainly some work to be done in the extra five minutes. Junior goaltender Gibson Homer received his first start in two months on January 4th against Cornell and has won his first two games in the new year, allowing just one goal in that stretch.
Homer will start on Friday as Arizona State travels north to Minnesota for a weekend series against No. 15 St. Cloud State. The Huskies were swept by Minnesota Duluth last weekend and are hungry for a conference win. They have lost six of their last eight games and are 4-6 in the NCHC and 11-9 overall.
St. Cloud State is the second-worst offensive team in the NCHC, scoring just 44 goals all season and averaging 2.2 goals per game. Their inability to get pucks on net forces them to drop back on defense for a majority of the game, where they also give up 2.2 goals a game. In a play style like St. Cloud State’s, it’s easier for more mistakes to be made on defense with the puck out of its possession, leading to 3.8 penalties committed per game.
Luckily for the Huskies, they are one of the best teams when it comes to their penalty kill, ranking fifth in the country with a .902 percentage. The Sun Devils are successful on the power play 22.6% of the time and relied on it last weekend against North Dakota, as it was responsible for three of the seven goals.
St. Cloud State has one of the best goalies in its crease with sophomore Isak Posch, who is fifth in the country with a .938 save percentage and has allowed just four power-play goals in 13 games. Special teams will play a huge factor for both teams this weekend, as ASU will need to limit turnovers and avoid foolish penalties.
“Their penalty kill is really good, and your best killer always has to be your goalie,” Powers explained. “When that kid was healthy, he was maybe the best killer in the country. They have a good thing going with it, they’re confident about it, and our power play popped three big ones for us last weekend. It was a good way to get that going, and we’re going to need some goals on the power play this weekend.”
The Huskies are led on offense by freshman forward Austin Burnevik, who has come out the gates hot in his first year with nine goals and seven assists, totaling a team-best 16 points. The Minnesota native grew up a Huskies fan and came from the United States Hockey League, playing with the Madison Capitols last year and earning All-USHL Third Team honors.
The main playmaker for St. Cloud State is senior forward Barrett Hall, who leads the team with 12 assists and four goals. Burnevik and Hall stay out of the box and play clean games, combining for four total penalties all season. This allows them to stay on the ice as much as possible and create opportunities for themselves and their teammates.
The Huskies are a middle-of-the-pack team when it comes to faceoff winning percentage, at 54.5%, and this is one of the biggest factors why Arizona State has struggled. ASU is second-to-last in the NCHC, at 49.1%, and the Sun Devils have seen a number of games slip away from them due to their inability to win faceoffs.
ASU has the obvious advantage when it comes to offensive firepower, but taking advantage of power plays and cleaning up problems in the faceoff circle are likely at the top of Powers’ list this weekend. With junior Cruz Lucius back on the ice last weekend and starting to get his legs underneath him, Arizona State’s top three lines look as strong as ever.
The skill and talent on the roster this season are miles ahead of when the Sun Devils were an independent team, and it’s only year one of ASU in the NCHC. While this team is certainly built for a deep run in the NCAA tournament, the upcoming conference schedule will provide a large barometer of its current state.
Join your fellow Sun Devil fans on our premium message board, the Devils’ Huddle, run by the longest-tenured Sun Devil sports beat writer, to discuss this article and other ASU football, basketball, and recruiting topics. Not a member yet? Sign up today and get your daily fix of Sun Devil news!
