(Photo: Sun Devil Athletics)
After a two-week break for the holidays, Arizona State (4-7-2) travelled to Minneapolis with a single goal in mind: taking down the top-ranked team in college hockey.
For 22 minutes, it looked as though the Sun Devils would do just that. ASU held a 1-0 lead over the No. 1 ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers (9-0-0) through the first period thanks to a power play goal from freshman forward Matthew Kopperud but ultimately fell 4-1 to the nation’s top team.
Despite facing its first deficit of the season, Minnesota was unfazed and opened the floodgates when freshman defenseman Mike Koster tipped home a Ben Meyers pass for the Golden Gophers’ first goal of the game 2:08 into the second period.
Minnesota sophomore forward Jonny Sorenson quickly followed up Koster’s goal with one of his own, and junior forward Sampo Ranta added another just seconds later. The Sun Devils’ lead vanished in the blink of an eye.
“Bad five minutes against a really good team,” head coach Greg Powers said. “That was all it took.”
The Sun Devils rarely surrendered back-to-back goals during the first half of their season but looked disorganized after allowing the tying goal and made uncharacteristic mistakes in the minutes that followed, including a collision in the defensive zone that resulted in Ranta’s goal.
“The third [goal] was just kind of a fluke sloppy play,” Powers said. “Two guys ran into each other and they got a fortuitous bounce and put it in the back of the net.”
The Sun Devils rebounded strongly in the third period, only to have their momentum thwarted by a cross-checking penalty on senior defenseman Gvido Jansons which was upgraded to a five-minute major and game misconduct upon review. The Sun Devils killed the penalty, but Minnesota senior goaltender Jack LaFontaine stood his ground in the final ten minutes to secure a Golden Gophers victory.
While the Sun Devils were ultimately undone by Minnesota’s second period barrage, they showed continued improvement on special teams, an area that plagued them throughout the first half of the season. Arizona State’s power play scored on one of two opportunities against the Golden Gophers’ No. 2 ranked penalty kill and held their fifth-ranked power play off of the scoreboard in four tries.
“Special teams did their job,” Powers said. “We got a big goal to start the game and get us up going into the second period and the kill was tremendous against an unbelievably good, talented power play.”
ASU senior forward Johnny Walker did not get on the scoresheet but managed to record three shots on goal in his first game since suffering a knee injury against Michigan on Nov. 15, 2020. Walker played limited minutes but occupied his normal spot on the first power play unit and appeared more comfortable as the game progressed.
“After tonight, I’d say I’m a hundred percent,” Walker said. “There’s a little bit of a feeling out process at the beginning, nerves and whatnot but after I got in the flow of it I didn’t notice my knee at all”
Walker and the Sun Devils will look to rebound in the second game of the series at 6 P.M. MST on Monday.
“I think that we played a solid game,” Walker said. “There was about a five-minute lapse there where we got caught on our heels and if we eliminate that it’s a different outcome. That’s something we’re working to fix and we’re going to bounce back tomorrow.”
