(Photo: Cierra Luna/WCSN)
Arizona State Men’s Hockey senior forward Johnny Walker became the all-time leading scorer in program history on Friday, but nobody was in the mood to celebrate his accomplishment.
Walker and the Sun Devils (6-15-2) marched into Ann Arbor after a week off to do battle with the Michigan Wolverines (13-8) in hopes of pulling off an upset victory.
The Wolverines put those hopes to rest though, cruising to a 4-1 win on home-ice and limiting ASU to just 20 shots on net. Michigan freshman forward Matty Beniers scored a hat trick and freshman goaltender Erik Portillo made 19 saves to propel the Wolverines to their sixth consecutive win over the Sun Devils.
“Against a team like [Michigan], you have to manage the puck like it’s game seven,” ASU head coach Greg Powers said. “Tonight, we had older, veteran guys turn pucks over in the neutral zone or on the wall, easy plays to get pucks out and they didn’t do it.”
Arizona State’s lone goal came with 2:42 remaining in the second period. With the Sun Devils trailing 3-0, Walker carried the puck into the offensive zone, cut to the middle of the ice and uncorked a powerful shot that glanced off of senior forward Chris Grando’s chest and into the net. Walker was credited with the primary assist on the goal, giving him 108 career points and sole possession of the program record.
The achievement, while historic, did little to alleviate the agony of losing. Rather than capping off his record-breaking night with a bear hug from his teammates, Walker finished the game in the penalty box and was not available for comment afterwards. The loss was ASU’s ninth in its last 11 games and the Sun Devils appeared overmatched against Michigan’s potent attack.
The Wolverines took control of the game right out of the gate, outshooting ASU 15-2 in the first period. Sun Devils’ freshman goaltender Cole Brady weathered the storm through the first ten minutes, but things quickly spiraled out of control after a blown assignment in front of the ASU net resulted in an easy tap-in goal for Michigan sophomore forward Eric Ciccolini. Beniers scored his first goal of the game less than two minutes later on another blown net-front coverage to give Michigan a two-goal lead at intermission.
“I actually thought the first twelve minutes, we executed the way we wanted to,” Powers said. “We wanted to be physical and finish checks and limit grade-As and we did that.”
Michigan picked up where it left off in the second period, continuing to test Brady and preventing ASU from generating any offense whatsoever. The Sun Devils had just six shots on net halfway through the game, and ASU’s lone power play opportunity yielded more scoring chances for Michigan than it did for themselves.
Shortly after the conclusion of the power play, a botched zone exit led to another easy goal for Beniers with less than five minutes left in the period. Grando’s goal three minutes later gave the Sun Devils a brief glimmer of hope, but Beniers’ hat trick goal early in the third ensured that Arizona State’s comeback attempt would fall short.
Brady’s performance provided a small silver lining in what was otherwise a deeply disheartening loss for the Sun Devils. The Ontario-native turned in another stellar showing in his third straight start and continued to perhaps cement his status as ASU’s starting goaltender for the rest of this season and beyond.
“He was great,” Powers said. “He gave us a chance and that’s all you can ask against a team like [Michigan]. He was obviously our best player tonight.”
With just three games remaining on its schedule, the Sun Devils are running out of time to salvage something good out of what has been an unspeakably difficult year for the program. Game two against Michigan on Saturday will provide the Sun Devils with an opportunity to wash out the bitter taste of defeat, but they will likely need a more complete effort to make that happen.
“We have some good stuff to go to film with,” Powers said. “A couple of minor adjustments I think will give ourselves a good chance to steal one tomorrow and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
