(Photo: Gabrielle Mercer/WCSN)
Arizona State hockey is back this weekend to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions in one of the most highly anticipated series of the season. The Sun Devils will make the change from their normal home ice of Oceanside Ice Arena in Tempe to the Arizona Coyotes’ venue, Gila River Arena in Glendale.
The Sun Devils will return to the ice following an off week after taking on Alabama-Huntsville in the Battle of the Sun Belt. ASU reigned victorious Friday night thanks to a two-goal game by defenseman, Jakob Stridsberg, but fell short Saturday night to finish the series in a split.
Penn State is also looking to bounce back after falling in its first sweep of the season to Notre Dame, including one shutout loss.
The last time the two schools clashed was last season in which Penn State donned a home sweep outscoring the Sun Devils 15-4 on the weekend.
Penn State currently leads the nation with most shots per game, making them a tough team to defend.
“They shoot a lot, they go really aggressive,” Stridsberg said. “We just got to play really close to them, get some good gaps and try to close them down as soon as possible so they don’t get those good shots that they did last year.”
Powers said the team has yet to play a competitor who can compare to their style. Penn State plays a run-and-gun, completely offensive style in which they throw every puck they can at the net, he said. A strong offense is sure to keep net-minder Joey Daccord on his toes.
“He is usually sharper when he sees more pucks,” ASU head coach Greg Powers said. “He struggled against them last year at Penn State so I know he’s excited to kind of get a little bit of redemption and show them he can play with them.”
“Last week, we were really focused on just letting them play and a lot of skating, a lot of conditioning getting their legs and lungs where we wanted them,” Powers said. “This week it’s all about just focus. A few things we are focusing on, just detailed wise for the weekend, getting them on and off, keeping them fresh. We have that going for us, we had a week off last week and we’re going to be quick this week. Get them on, get them off, get some good stuff in and keep the legs fresh.”
The past week gave the Sun Devils a chance to recharge mentally. Going into a tough series, Powers emphasized how important being 100 percent healthy is.
“They’re fresh and you can feel it,” Powers said. “They’re feeling good.”
Puck drop is at 8:05 p.m. Friday and 7:05 p.m. Saturday.
