(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
After starting the season 2-0-0 for the first time as an NCAA program, Arizona State entered this weekend’s daunting series against No. 1 Ohio State with a certain swagger and optimism.
“We have no pressure on us,” coach Greg Powers said last week, looking ahead to the visit of the top-ranked Buckeyes. “All the pressure is on Ohio State.”
This weekend, the Sun Devils were up for the task. Despite dropping both games, 3-2 Friday and 3-0 Saturday, Powers thinks Arizona State proved that its new collection of talent can compete with best in the country this season.
“I’m extremely proud of our guys,” Powers said after Saturday’s defeat. “We got a good hockey team here, and we battled those guys toe-to-toe.”
Arizona State applied that pressure on OSU for long stretches during both games. In 5-on-5 play, the Buckeyes only outscored the Sun Devils 2-1. Faceoffs were split almost evenly. While ASU never held a lead, the score was either tied or within one for all but about 30 minutes across both nights. In each game, the Sun Devils had powerplay chances in the third to tie the game but couldn’t capitalize.
At no point did they looked overwhelmed by Ohio State, which returned 21 players from a team that went to the Frozen Four a season ago.
The biggest difference between OSU and ASU this weekend: finishing chances. The Buckeyes were able to beat Sun Devils junior goalie Joey Daccord with several ugly goals in the scoring areas. The Sun Devils only tallies came from Johnny Walker, both in the second period of Friday’s game.
Arizona State’s penalty kill acted as its kryptonite early in Friday’s game, giving up a goal each of its first two times on the ice.
“If you put [Ohio State’s power play] on the ice too many times, they’re going to execute,” Powers said. “Their power play is lethal.”
After that though, ASU killed off OSU’s next nine opportunities with the man advantage, including three extended 5-on-3s in Saturday’s game, keeping a Buckeye’s power-play unit that ranked sixth in the country last season quiet and the Sun Devils within striking distance.
Another major factor that kept the Sun Devils so competitive over the weekend was the strong play by Steenn Pasichnuk and ASU’s fourth line, which was able to draw multiple power plays and was tasked with shutting down the top line of Ohio State for most of the series.
“They were incredible,” Powers said. “They play hard and are hard to play against. It’s fun to watch.”
Even though ASU dropped to 2-2-0, the weekend set the bar for how the Sun Devils expect to perform the rest of the season. After both games, Powers said his team was upset to have lost, not content that they had kept it close. It didn’t matter how highly ranked the Buckeyes were. ASU felt like it could — and should — have won each night.
“There is no more moral wins,” Walker said. “We expect to beat the No.1 team in the country…We’re not satisfied. Losing by a goal is just not enough.”
The performance against Ohio State was the latest signal that this Sun Devil team, backed by a budding core of youthful talent and veteran role players, can compete for a full 60 minutes against the best teams in the nation.
“We’re not going to see anybody that’s better than [Ohio State],” Powers said. “We know we can beat anybody. We know we can compete with anybody. I like our chances against anybody.”
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