Just 24 hours after Arizona State (5-13-2) suffered a brutal 10-0 loss to the No. 4 ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers, the Sun Devils took the ice at 3M Arena in Minneapolis in search of redemption. Having lost by double digits the day before, an ASU victory on Friday seemed improbable, though as the game entered the final 17 minutes of play, it was well within sight for the Sun Devils.
Freshman forward Michael Mancinelli scored a beautiful goal to cut the Gophers’ lead to two with 24 seconds remaining in the second period, and a tripping penalty to Minnesota sophomore forward Bryce Brodzinski three minutes into the third put the Sun Devils in prime position to take over the game.
Instead, they allowed a shorthanded 2-on-1 rush, which Minnesota junior forward Blake McLaughlin easily scored on. Seventeen seconds later, freshman forward Jack Perbix added a goal of his own. Two unanswered goals soon became six, and before the Sun Devils knew it, they had given up ten goals for the second straight game.
“At least tonight we had a handful of guys play hard and battle,” head coach Greg Powers said. “We had some guys really go hard tonight but it’s unfortunate that third (period) got away.”
Playing their fourth game in six days and having been on the road for 59 of the last 71, Arizona State appeared to simply run out of gas against one of the nation’s best teams. The final score of 10-2 may not reflect the way ASU competed through the first two periods of Friday’s game, but it does accurately reflect where the Sun Devils find themselves at this point in the season. Injury-riddled, fatigued and all but eliminated from postseason contention with eight games still to go, Greg Powers’ squad has never needed a break more than it does right now.
While freshman forward Ryan O’Reilly returned to the lineup Friday after a three-game absence and recorded an assist, the Sun Devils’ lack of manpower played more and more of a role as the game went on. Minnesota outshot ASU in every period but did not benefit from the long stretches of uninterrupted zone time that they regularly enjoyed in the first game of the series.
ASU senior goaltender Evan DeBrouwer remained in the net for all ten Minnesota goals. Although his save percentage took another major hit, DeBrouwer’s performance in the first period was good enough to keep the game tied 1-1 heading into the first intermission. Despite his best efforts, ASU could not keep pace with the Gophers and the dam eventually burst.
“Our guys deserve some slack for what they’re attempting to go through to play this year,” Powers said. “There’s five guys [who played] tonight that can barely walk and shower. It’s caught up to us.”
Despite the litany of injuries facing Arizona State, Powers said he expected to have a mostly healthy lineup in time for the team’s exhibition games against the United States National Development Team Program on Feb. 4 and 5. The Sun Devils hope those games will provide an opportunity to gain confidence heading into the final stretch of their schedule.
“We think we can get them for the most part completely healthy,” Powers said. “Hopefully by the time we play our exhibition games we can get ramped up and go out and finish strong.”
