After almost three weeks off, Sun Devil Hockey is back in action this weekend. Arizona State (6-4) plays host the Vermont Catamounts (1-8-1, 0-6-1 Hockey East) for the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

Coming into the weekend, ASU is receiving 33 votes in the USCHO top-20 poll and currently sits at No. 13 in the all-important PairWise rankings.

The Sun Devils’ last series was way back on Nov. 8 and 9 at Alaska Fairbanks. ASU was able to get a split with a big 4-0 win before heading into a long break that head coach Greg Powers admitted was much needed.

“I think there’s great energy this week because they know that we’re through it,” Powers said. “The guys are excited, and we think that we’re going to play really well Friday.”

Three weeks was an ample amount of time to regroup and recover for a tough rest of the season ahead and get some key players back in the mix. Senior forward Brett Gruber and junior forward Filips Buncis will return to the lineup for the weekend series against Vermont.

“We’re excited to get Fil (Buncis) and Grubs (Gruber) back,” Powers said. “They’ve been big holes and we got through it. To get (Gruber) back is a huge shot in the arm for us. We obviously missed Fil for the last handful of games, and he was playing his best hockey since he’s been here.”

Gruber was dominant in the faceoff department before his injury, and his addition this weekend will provide strong depth defensively and on the penalty kill. Buncis also provides a much-needed boost to finding faceoff success.

Junior forward transfer James Sanchez has settled in quite nicely with Sun Devil Hockey, becoming the most productive player on the ice through the first ten games. Sanchez paces the team in points with 15, including 13 assists.

His major contributions have come in large part due to the decision Powers made to pair him with junior forward Johnny Walker back when ASU took its trip to China.

“There just seemed to be a natural thing between them,” Powers said. “And they’ve hit it off very well, both on and off the ice.”

Walker is currently second on the team with 13 points, six goals, and seven assists. Sophomore Demetrios Koumontzis has spent extensive time on a line with those two as well.

“I think we all bring different things to our line, and I think it’s just a really dynamic three-person line,” Sanchez said. “I think it’s going to go well for the rest of the year, and I really hope we can keep winning games and keep scoring just moving forward every game.”

However, Powers said earlier in the week that with Buncis and Gruber back down the middle that Koumontzis will most likely return to playing his usual position at left wing.

Sophomore defenseman Josh Maniscalco has really found his groove for the Sun Devils so far this season. He’s third on the team with 11 points, five goals and six assists, and even recorded his first collegiate three-point game in the 4-0 win at Alaska Fairbanks.

Joining him in what has been a successful sophomore campaign to this point is goalie Evan DeBrouwer. In his nine starts for ASU this season, DeBrouwer has .916 save percentage and a 2.41 goals against average along with two shutouts.

“I think right now it’s pretty clear that he’s won that net,” Powers said. “I can tell you though, Max (Prawdzik) is ready. He’s chomping at the bit to go in, and we believe in him. Evan’s just taken it and ran with it.”

Interestingly enough, senior defenseman and co-captain Brinson Pasichnuk was committed to Vermont before ultimately changing his decision and coming to ASU.

Viewing Vermont

The Catamounts haven’t had a strong start to their season. With just one win on the season, Vermont comes to Tempe hungry to get back in the win column.

Two defensemen are leading the way for Vermont. Freshman Andrew Lucas is first on the team with five points, and junior Christian Evers is tied for the team-high in goals with three and that’s marks a career-high for himself after scoring his third last weekend at Boston University.

Forwards Joey Cipollone and Alex Esposito both have three goals each this season also.

Senior forward Thomas Beretta has played against ASU three times in his career when he was at Michigan Tech before transferring to Vermont.

In net, Vermont has one of the premier goaltenders in college hockey. Senior Stefanos Lekkas holds a .911 save percentage and 2.71 goals after starting in all ten games for the Catamounts this season.

“He’s maybe the best goalie in college hockey, he’s that good,” Powers said. “We’re going to have to be creative in how we generate offense and score.”

Lekkas was one of ten semifinalists for the Mike Richer Award is given to the nation’s top goaltender in 2018-19, having joined former ASU goalie Joey Daccord at the time who finished as a top-three finalist.

Puck drop for both Friday and Saturday night is set for 7:05 p.m. MT. The games can be viewed on the Pac-12 ASU Live Stream.