ASU Men’s Hockey: Sun Devils celebrate birthdays, series sweep in weekend trip to Princeton

(Photo: Kylee Meter/WCSN)

Sixty minutes was not enough to settle the score Saturday night at Hobey Baker Memorial Rink between No. 19 Arizona State and Princeton.

In a brief intermission before the start of the overtime period, coach Greg Powers called over senior forward Jake Clifford to the bench and the two birthday boys shared a very special moment.

“Jake, it’s our birthday. We share our birthday today and I’d appreciate it if you got a goal for both of us,” Powers said in his postgame interview.

And sure enough, Clifford delivered, lighting not only candles on his big day, but also the lamp for the game-winner and series sweep over Princeton.

Past the midway point of the overtime period, Clifford planted himself in front of the goal and tucked home a shot from the point, putting the cherry on top of an impressive road series after a bye week of refocusing and relaxation.

The Sun Devils swept the Tigers thanks to Clifford’s winner and the remarkable goaltending of junior Joey Daccord, plus a full arsenal of offensive weapons, that was on display the night before.

ASU secured its 11th and 12th victories of the season, establishing a new single-season win total. The previous record was 10 wins, set during their 2015-2016 campaign.

It did not take long for the Sun Devils’ offense to wake up after not seeing any action on the ice for over a dozen days.

Just 15 seconds into the series opener, sophomore forward Johnny Walker whistled a wrist shot in the slot past Princeton goaltender Ryan Ferland to give ASU an early 1-0 lead. Walker’s 13th goal of the season put him back on top of the country’s goal-scoring leaderboard.

Brett Gruber, Brinson Pasichnuk and Anthony Croston supplied the rest of the offense in the 4-0 victory, but that was not the story of the night. Daccord posted his NCAA-leading fourth shutout of the season in a 45-save effort.

The 6-foot-3, 205-pound netminder stood tall all night, stopping everything that came his way, including four successful kills against Princeton’s No. 2 ranked powerplay.

“They didn’t convert on it but it was because our goalie was so good,” Powers said. “Anytime your goalie is your best killer, you’re in good shape.”

In game two, the Sun Devils started off on the same note, scoring a pair goals in the opening 20 minutes of play. This time, the Tigers would not be left to dry.

Princeton answered right back with two quick strikes in the second period from Ryan Kuffner and Max Veronneau.

A scoreless third presented the Sun Devils with their third overtime period of the season. Instead of Walker, ASU’s overtime hero earlier in the season, Powers and Clifford executed the perfect birthday wish as the senior forward sealed the 3-2 OT victory with a ribbon.

“That is poetic justice is what happened out there with Cliff,” Powers said. “It’s his birthday today and he’s been a tremendous program builder for us. He’s been through a lot of ups and downs as we’ve grown, and for him to have this big moment on his birthday in his senior year is a good moment for him.”

The Sun Devils have come a long way in a year’s worth of recruitment and skill development. Freshmen Demetrios Koumontzis, Jordan Sandhu and Josh Maniscalco each recorded two points in the series.

At this time last year, ASU was 5-9-3. Fast forward 365 days, the Sun Devils are 12-6-0 and hold down a spot in the top-20 rankings for the first season in program history. ASU jumped to No. 8 in the PairWise after their fifth sweep of the season.

After six consecutive games on the road, the Sun Devils return to Oceanside Ice Arena and take on Colorado College next weekend.

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