(Photo: Riley Trujillo/WCSN)
Despite having the NCAA’s co-leader in power play scoring and a slew of other offensive weapons too, Arizona State has been struggling on the power play in recent weeks.
One of the most important aspects in hockey, the power play presents a golden opportunity for teams to swing the momentum in games. But too often recently, the Sun Devils have squandered their chances with the man advantage.
Despite sophomore forward and Hobey Baker Memorial Award finalist Johnny Walker’s eight power play goals, tied for most in the nation, ASU only sits 46th in the NCAA (of 60 schools) with a conversion rate of 15.7 percent. It has hurt the team during its fight for an NCAA Tournament berth. In their last 31 attempts, the Sun Devils have scored only three times (6.45 percent), including a 0-for-8 showing against Clarkson in the Desert Hockey Classic.
“It’s hard because we’ve committed to putting five freshmen on the power play,” coach Greg Powers said. “You’re going to get inconsistency.”
Since becoming a Division I program four years ago, the power play has been an annual weak point for the Sun Devils. At no point in the program’s history has ASU finished a season above the 15 percent on the man advantage. In the team’s inaugural season, the power play percentage was a dire 5.4 percent.
Despite having what Powers has called the most talented roster in program history this season, the Sun Devils have still lacked consistency on their special teams unit.
Their inability to capitalize on the power play has been costly, including in the team’s most recent loss, a 3-2 defeat to Cornell where ASU “actually played really well,” according to Powers, but went 0-for-5 with the extra skater.
There have been moments this season the Sun Devils have been hot on the man advantage. In October, they scored five power-play goals to secure a 7-2 victory over Nebraska-Omaha. And, more recently, two power play goals in a Jan. 4 game against Boston College keyed ASU to a 5-2 win.
It’s because of those patches of power play success that many players, including Walker, are not worried about the current lack of productivity.
“It’s just the way it goes sometimes,” Walker said. “If we stick to our plan and do what we need to do, everything will take care of itself.”
As ASU heads toward the conclusion of its season, the Sun Devils find themselves 11th in the PairWise rankings and will look toward its special teams to help secure a spot in the NCAA tournament. Their next opponent is Boston University, a team with the 18th best penalty kill in the NCAA at 83.5 percent.
Moving ahead, Powers noted that although the goal is to have the power play be effective, the team can also use the man advantage to build energy during games, even without scoring.
“Do [the players] have to execute for us to achieve what we want? Yes,” Powers said. “But, most importantly, what I think they got away from was having that power play get us momentum.”
At the end of the day, neither Powers nor the players are worried about the lack of special team offense as they prepare for their final push at earning a postseason berth.
“With us,” Powers said, “It’s refocusing these guys.”
