No. 15 Arizona State enters this weekend after splitting its last series with Minnesota Duluth, a series ASU needed to sweep to stay on the NCAA tournament bubble. Now sitting at No. 15 in the PairWise rankings, the Sun Devils are on the outside looking in, but they have a crucial weekend ahead of them.
No. 3 Western Michigan comes into Tempe, leading the NCHC with 45 points, five points ahead of ASU, after sweeping Omaha last week. The Broncos have yet to lose a conference game in regulation, with both NCHC losses coming in overtime. They are a physical team that shuts down opposing offenses, allowing just 1.79 goals per game, which is the third lowest in the country.
While they’ve been dominant in conference play, it doesn’t end there. Taking a look at their schedule, four of the five losses on the season have come against top 10 teams (Boston College, Michigan, Denver, Michigan State). The Broncos have not only been dominant throughout the season, but they’re battle-tested and ready to make a run.
Western Michigan is the best team in college hockey, with a 1.96 margin throughout the season. They have scored 105 goals while allowing just 50. Their potent offense, combined with a shutdown defensive unit, puts them in a prime position to make a run for the national championship.
“We’re not a really big team up front,” head coach Greg Powers said. “We’re built with a lot of speed, and there’s some teams that play us really hard with the physicality. Duluth played us really hard and heavy, and Western is going to do the same. We have to counteract that with guys that play a little bit heavier and more downhill than others.”
Their forwards and defensemen rarely give up good looks in their own zone, but even when they do, the tandem goaltending of freshman Hampton Slukynsky and graduate Cameron Rowe are human brick walls in the crease.
Slukynsky’s save percentage (.942) and goals against average (1.569) are both second in the country in 12 games played, and Rowe is top-12 in both of those categories as well, with 16 games played. It’s likely Rowe will start at least the first game, if not both, with a 15-1 record on the year, the highest winning percentage (.938) in college hockey.
“They’re just two really good goalies,” Powers noted. “It’s legitimately a two-headed monster, and to beat good goalies, you gotta get pucks on them and create second-chance opportunities, create traffic, and make it hard on them.”
On the offensive side, every forward is a threat to score points. The Broncos have six players with at least 20 points on the season, led by sophomore forward Alex Bump, who has 32 points. Western also has a power play unit that is just behind ASU and Denver, with a 26.8% success rate. They make teams pay on the man advantage.
Just like every other series, Arizona State’s biggest weak point is the faceoff circle. The Broncos are third in the NCHC with a 54.5% faceoff winning percentage, while ASU is still second-to-last at 48.5%. One of the biggest keys will be faceoffs, as they can either get the Sun Devils out of their own zone or keep the puck in Western’s zone and generate scoring chances, and they’ll need as many as they can get.
As Powers said, speed will be ASU’s biggest friend over the weekend, with a large majority of the Broncos being physical units. Staying away from the corners and limiting Western’s time on the rush are crucial to Arizona State having a successful weekend, where it needs at least one win to stay around the bubble for the NCAA tournament.
“There’s a reason they’ve only lost five games,” Powers expressed. “We know the challenge is steep, and they’re a hell of a team. They have one of the best coaches in college hockey, and I have a ton of respect and admiration for how his staff goes about their business and how they’ve built a winning program. That’s what we’re trying to do here.”
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