ASU Men’s Hockey: Sun Devils complete sweep of Colorado College

(Photo: Kylee Meter/WCSN)

While Arizona State’s Friday win over Colorado College was about overcoming a slow start and battling back, Saturday was about correcting those mistakes and pushing through for the Sun Devils.

ASU shutout Colorado College 4-0 thanks to more freshmen contributions and trademark performances from two of the team’s best players.

Freshman forwards PJ Marrocco and Austin Lemieux each had a goal a piece while Johnny Walker extended his lead as the nation’s top goal scorer. Junior goaltender Joey Daccord recorded his fifth shutout of the year by saving 31 Tiger shots, four more than the Sun Devils total.

“It’s a good sweep,” said coach Greg Powers. “I told the guys I was obviously very proud of them.”

The Sun Devils started Saturday’s game completely differently than they did Friday’s. ASU surrendered only six shots to Colorado College in the opening stanza, half of Friday night’s total. The Tigers’ dynamic offense was completely dormant. ASU dominated the puck throughout and got early opportunities, a feat that was not achieved Friday night.

The improvement went so far that the Sun Devils drew two penalties in the period, and appeared to capitalize on one. With under two minutes left, Austin Lemieux, set up on the right side of the net, tipped a shot in the net and gave the Sun Devils the lead. However, the goal was waved off due to a “kicking motion” by the redshirt freshman.

He, and the team, knew the goal was no good, according to Marracco, who in the postgame press conference joked that, before receiving the pass from Marracco on his second period goal, his first thought was “Lemmy, don’t kick this one in.”

Colorado College rallied a bit halfway through the period. Two breakaway opportunities gave them great looks, but Daccord stuffed them both.

“Any night that the guys are doing what they’re doing, blocking shots like that, making my life easy, it gives me a good chance to be successful personally,” said Daccord, deferring the credit to the defense.

The script flipped once again in the second period. The Tigers put 14 shots on net and looked more like the Colorado College offense that went up 2-0 on the Sun Devils Friday night. Three power plays granted on kneeing and tripping calls sparked the Tigers, who dominated the puck for most of the period. It was the penally kill and once again Daccord who kept the Tigers in check.

“[Brent] Gruber won some big draws on the kill tonight,” said Powers. “The kill was very good. Obviously Dacs [Daccord] was tremendous on it and made some big saves.”

But help came. Despite losing the possession battle, the Sun Devils put up two on the scoreboard, relaxing the physical pressure from Colorado College on the ice and the mental pressure of still being tied despite a good first period.

The first goal came off a PJ Marrocco bar-down shot from the right wing, which didn’t cross the line but fell in perfect position for Marracco, who made a great second effort to tip it in for the score.

“I just have to move my feet,” said Marrocco. “When I shoot the puck and move my feet, I’m more successful.”

The next, toward the end of the period, came off Lemieux’s stick on an odd man rush. Making up for the no-goal earlier, Lemieux, planted on the right side of the net, received the puck from Marracco and went bar-down with it, just like Marracco did with his.

“Our freshman have been incredible,” said Powers. “We knew how good they were when they were coming in. They’ve not only not disappointed, but I think they’ve exceeded our expectations.”

The third period was the Johnny Walker show, and he preformed with his hockey and talking skills. Walker scored two goals in the third period and was sent to the box for an unsportsmanlike conduct call, which was one of the 12 total penalties between the two teams in the last act. Frustration had set in for Colorado College, and Walker, Gruber and others did all they could to make sure the Tigers really felt it.

But really, Walker’s goals were the only thing that had to do the talking. The first one was a heads-up play by Walker, as a short-handed shot came blazing in from the top of the zone and went off Tigers’ goaltender Alex Leclerc’s pad. The puck sat in front of the net for a couple seconds, and in came Walker to tap it in. The second came on a four-on-three shift late in the third period where tempers were flaring.

“The only thing he didn’t do was bang one in off his [explicative],” said Powers of Walker. “He’s just too smart. He knows where to go to get the puck.”

The Sun Devils have won four in a row after suffering an disappointing sweep at Nebraska-Omaha, and have two weeks off to prepare for the Desert Hockey Classic, where four of the country’s top 20 teams and two of the country’s top five teams will square off at Gila River Arena.

“It’s a great way to go on break obviously,” said Powers. “Now it’s time for them [the players] to go and enjoy their families and come back nice and rested and focused on what’s ahead.”