(Photo Courtesy – Xavier Litman)
With a quarter of its season completed, Arizona State Men’s Hockey (7-4) are winners in its previous five games and will begin arguably its toughest stretch of the season, competing against Clarkson (5-6), No. 2 Minnesota and No. 1 Denver.
The Sun Devils’ path has been steady thus far, taking care of business against opponents who are under .500 and defeating then-No. 6 North Dakota in Las Vegas. For a team looking to make its second tournament appearance in program history, it is critical to start earning wins against stronger programs.
The biggest contributors for ASU as of late have been junior forward Lukas Sillinger, senior forward Robert Mastrosimone, and sophomore forward Josh Doan. Sillinger currently leads the team with ten points, followed by Mastrosimone and Doan with nine. Mastrosimone earned points in four of the last five games, most notably the game-winning goal early in the third period against North Dakota, while Doan has provided confidence in the face-off unit, winning 52%.
Penalty kills have been a critical element to the Sun Devils’ success over the five-game win streak, only allowing two goals on 23 opponent power plays. Sophomore goalie TJ Semptimphelter, who ranks third in the country in saves and just earned his third career shutout, has played a key role to that success. Conversely, the penalty box has given a little bit of trouble for the team, averaging just over five penalties and just under 16 penalty minutes per game, including three major penalties and two ejections.
On the other side of the ice, junior defenseman Noah Beck and sophomore forward Ayrton Martino lead the Clarkson Golden Knights with 12 points each. Martino, the Dallas Stars’ third-round draft pick this summer, was an ECAC Rookie of the Year finalist after a stellar freshman campaign last season, earning nine multi-point games and tallying seven goals and 22 assists. He currently leads the Golden Knights with 10 assists and scored his first two goals of the season in Saturday’s game vs. Cornell. Junior forward Alex Campbell has also been productive recently, earning his first career hat trick against Colgate on Nov. 11.
The Sun Devils have won the last three games against the Golden Knights, dating back to January 2020, including a sweep at Oceanside Ice Arena last December. This weekend will mark the third consecutive year the programs have met, excluding the 2020-21 season when the Sun Devils played in the Big Ten due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Puck drop will take place at 5 p.m. MST on Friday and Saturday. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.
