ASU Men’s Hockey: Powers ‘not happy’ with late-game meltdown in 4-3 win

(Photo: Travis Whittaker/WCSN)

A brutally honest Greg Powers sat in front of the media on Saturday night at Oceanside Ice Arena. His team was victorious, however, the fifth-year head coach was candid when sharing his reaction to the contest.

“I told the guys after the game, ‘I’m not happy,’” Powers said after his team conquered a Michigan Tech squad that had won nine of its last 12 outings. “We’ll take a win against a really good team all day, but you got to put together 60 minutes. We felt like that was a game we were in complete control of.”

No. 17 Arizona State (11-7-3) was dominant in the first two periods of its 4-3 win over Michigan Tech (12-9-1) in front of 768 fans in Tempe. The victory continued ASU’s eight-game home unbeaten streak although the final frame of Saturday’s contest had Powers perturbed.

In the third period, the Sun Devils were less aggressive on breakouts and became sloppy with puck management in the defensive zone. The game’s final frame saw the nationally ranked ASU squad surrender all three of the Huskies’ goals while scoring on one of its own.

A turnover out in front of the goal crease by ASU sophomore defenseman Jarrod Gourley left Michigan tech freshman forward Brian Halonen all alone for an easy finish past the Sun Devils’ sophomore goaltender, Evan DeBrouwer, who bailed out his defenders on several troubling bounces throughout the night. Effective as he may have been DeBrouwer was no match for the Huskies’ first goal of the third period.

Before allowing the Huskies to continue to their third-period comeback effort, ASU junior forward Filips Buncis scored his second goal of the season with the help of his linemates PJ Marrocco and Austin Lemieux, both of whom were credited with assists on the play.

Lemieux finished the evening with two points (both assists), good for his second consecutive multi-point outing and the fifth such game of his career. As a line, Buncis, Marrocco and Lemieux have combined for 11 points over the Sun Devils last two games.

“I’ve been playing with two great players (Filips Buncis and Austin Lemeiux),” Marrocco said. They’ve really been helping me out. We’ve just been working really hard.”

“It’s been awesome,” Powers added of the second line’s recent performance. “The last two games they have been tremendous. They are the reason we came back and tied Harvard. Tonight, they are probably the reason we won this game. I thought every line did something really well tonight, but this line compliments themselves really well.”

A power-play goal from Michigan Tech’s top point producer — sophomore forward Alec Broetzman — gave his team the response it needed to Buncis’ score. Moments later, with the Huskies’ trailing the Sun Devils 4-2, tic-tac-toe passing and Justin Misiak’s perfect touch brought the score within one with just three minutes left to play.

With the net empty at the other end, Arizona State’s forwards blocked shots left and right in the dying moments. Busch laid out for a slap shot from the point, deflecting the puck out of play. Knierim sacrificed his body on the final shot as it whipped wide as the final whistle blew.

Despite a win, Powers was the first to admit this performance was not enough.

“The guys have to play a full 60 tomorrow,” he said. “They have to. It’s cliché. They’re hearing me say it all the time, but it’s time. It’s time to finish a game.”

Despite a near third-period collapse, the Sun Devils played with intensity in the periods leading up to it and found key contributions from the middle forward depth.

Junior forward Willie Knierim scored his sixth goal of the season just under five minutes into the contest following a takeaway by ASU’s co-captain Tyler Busch at the red line.

Marrocco joined Knierim as the Sun Devils’ second and final scorer of the first period as he rifled home his fourth goal in as many games. The score set gave Marrocco a new career-high with eight goals.

Sophomore forward Jordan Sandhu found the back of the net to extend ASU’s lead to 3-0 in the opening shift of the second period.

While the evening’s performance may not have been as complete as Powers was hoping for, senior defenseman Brandon Pasichnuk was stellar on the defensive end with six blocked shots, adding to his team leading 46 blocks on the season. The total also ranks second in the NCAA.

While Pasichnuk was a brick wall and the offense was rampant in the first two periods, Powers made certain to not let his team’s partial performance slip through the cracks and hide behind the veil of victory. He also recognized the urgency to improve.

“We’re in January and we have to finish games,” Powers said after the game. “When you’re up three at home, you should be licking your chops.”