(Photo: Brendan Belfield/WCSN)
TEMPE – Arizona State Men’s Hockey will trade its swimming trunks and shorts in exchange for winter jackets and gloves when it heads to Mankato, Minn. this weekend for a series against the No. 1 ranked school in the nation. The Sun Devils are taking on Minnesota State, which could prove to be key to finding consistency and continuing their recent road success.
“That’s the one thing we’ve been missing this year is just consistency and winning on the road,” ASU head coach Greg Powers said. “We’ve generally been a very good road team. The two seasons we qualified to the tournament prior to last year we had over a .500 record on the road.”
This season, the Sun Devils have struggled to win road games until the past couple weeks, as they’ve won three consecutive contests against No. 15 Northeastern and RIT. If they win out, the Sun Devils will have a .500 record on the road. Winning in snowy Minnesota won’t be an easy feat, however.
Minnesota State senior goaltender Dryden McKay has the third-highest winning percentage amongst all goalies in the country – sitting at a 23-4 record – and the second-fewest goals allowed per game nationwide. In 1,596 minutes on the ice, he has let in just 33 goals.
“You know they have a good goalie right off the bat, so we’re going to have to get bodies in front, pucks to the net,” senior forward Colin Theisen said. “Create that chaos in order to pop some in on [McKay].”
Defensively, Minnesota State has only given up 15 goals at home. It has let in a mere 35 goals in total this season, which is the second-fewest in the nation.
“We know they are going to bring back pressure, so we got to play with pace,” Theisen said.
Its penalty kill is almost as impressive. Minnesota State has allowed just 13 goals off 98 power-play chances, giving them the 11th best penalty-killing percentage.
The Mavericks have one of the best defenses in the country, and their offense is just as elite.
They’ve amassed 64 goals and averaged nearly five goals per game in Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center this season. The Mavericks have the highest-scoring offense nationwide this season, with 115 goals in 28 games.
They have three players inside the top 10 of the country’s assist leaders with junior forwards Nathan Smith and Brendan Furry and senior forward Julian Napravnik. They also have two inside the top 25 on the NCAA goals leaderboard – Smith and junior forward Ryan Sandelin.
Despite the team’s stellar offense and defense this season, perhaps what’s most impressive has been its success at home.
The Mavericks have won 11 straight games in their barn with their sole loss in Mankato this year coming against No. 6 St. Cloud State in October. Their goal differential at home is +49, compared to that of ASU’s road goal differential, which is a mere -14.
Surely, it’s a tough challenge for the Sun Devils, especially with the series likely being their only hopes at sneaking into the 2022 NCAA Tournament, but they are confident that they can compete with one of the best teams in college hockey if they play at their best.
“We look forward to the opportunity to play these guys at what spot they’re at,” Theisen said. “At the end of the day, we are trying to position ourselves to get in the tournament. Once you’re in the tournament, you’re going to play teams like this all the way through, so getting a good squad weekend against this team is going to be huge for us.”
