ASU Men’s Hockey: Sun Devils grind out win against Michigan State

(Photo: Kylee Meter/WCSN)

It wasn’t Arizona State’s prettiest game of the year, but the Sun Devils kept the momentum rolling after their big weekend in Happy Valley last week by outlasting Michigan State 5-4 on Friday night.

“That’s just a gutty team win,” said coach Greg Powers. “Not the greatest effort. [It was] pretty sloppy, probably the sloppiest we’ve looked from an execution standpoint.”

Turnovers, blown leads, a slow offensive start and some mid-game adjustments made Friday night’s win against the Spartans a grind. After squandering an early 2-0 advantage, the Sun Devils were able to pull back ahead late and improve to 8-3-0 on the season.

Some of the critical adjustments included sophomore Fillip Buncis seeing ice time during a power play and junior forward Brett Gruber taking freshman Demetrios Koumontzis’ spot on it as well.

The first period started very slow for the Sun Devils. They managed just five shots on goal as Michigan State’s defense clamped down, allowing just five shots in the opening act. The Sun Devils allowed one fewer, though.

“Obviously they’re a great defensive team,” said freshman forward Jordan Sandhu. “[We were] just trying to get the puck behind their ‘D.'”

A huge hit on Sandhu early set the tone for the rest of the period. Retaliation came in two Arizona State penalties, which gave Michigan State their only source of offense in the 1st. They put immense pressure on the ASU defense, but the Sun Devils’ top-three ranked penalty kill came through.

Despite the slow start, ASU had their own runs as well. Three brutal Michigan State turnovers gave ASU good chances, and it appeared the Sun Devils had capitalized on one when a goal midway through the 1st was called off. A cluster developed near the net, and the puck went in off Michigan State goaltender John Lethemon’s skate as he was pushed into the goal.

Still, the Devils were dominated in the first. Michigan State was able to get pucks deep into the offensive zone, while ASU struggled to keep possession.

“It was two good defensive teams; both well coached and structured,” said Powers, who also mentioned how tonight’s style might have had an impact, as last week’s series against Penn State was more of a “run and gun” affair, while tonight’s contest was more defensively-minded.

The second period delivered the action the first lacked. A power play goal, Arizona State’s first of the night, gave ASU a 1-0 lead. Not long after, junior forward Steenn Pasichnuk ripped a deep shot from the top of the zone, making it 2-0 Sun Devils. The shot was a missile; as it flew past Lethemon at rib-height on his right side. The goal was challenged by Michigan State for the offsides but stood.

But even up 2-0, the game was still a struggle. ASU got some breaks; Lethemon had his pads on the first goal before freshman forward PJ Marrocco deflected it in, and Pasichnuk’s goal probably should have been saved. The offense that the Spartans mustered in the first period came back after falling down 2-0. A goal similar to Pasichnuk’s was scored by Michigan State’s Jerad Rosburg, where an easy save could have been made by Joey Daccord. Soon after, the Spartans tied as a shot went off a skate and took a wild turn into the net.

“We were up 2-0, and then ‘Boom,'” said Powers.

Despite the action, the period wasn’t close to being over. Tying the game turned into taking the lead for the Spartans, as a third unanswered goal put Michigan State up 3-2. As he tried to send it down the ice, Josh Maniscalco turned the puck over just feet from the right post of the goal, and the Spartans’ Taro Hirose fired it in past Daccord, who had no one in front of the net to possibly block it.

The Devils didn’t let up though. Buncis, the little-played sophomore, came through big late in the period, knotting the game at three and finally answering the scoring run put on by the Spartans.

“Credit to Phil Buncis,” said Powers. “He’s making the absolute most of every opportunity that he’s getting. And he’s not getting enough. I put him on the second power play because he deserves to be there.”

The third saw the line changes have an impact once again. A fast middle of the period saw ASU get a ton of pressure, including a rush featuring Sandhu, Gruber and freshman Austin Lemieux. A shot fired by Gruber went off the goalie’s pad, met Sandhu’s stick and found itself in the back of the net for Sandhu’s first career goal, which put the Sun Devils up 4-3.

“I felt like we needed to get some sort of spark going,” said coach Powers. “Gruber, Sandhu and Lemieux… I don’t think they’ve played a shift together even in practice. And it worked.”

The momentum kept up, and what was a slow offensive night for the Sun Devils turned into one where they were able to score goals. Three and a half minutes later, the score was 5-3 after another dazzling rush by the three new linemates, featuring beautiful passing all the way down the ice until Gruber’s shot made it into the net.

ASU surrendered one more goal to the Spartans with six minutes left, but held strong and didn’t let what happened a week ago happen again, where ASU squandered a late lead.

The Sun Devils face the Spartans again Saturday night, in a game where Powers said the team will have to “manage the puck a bit better.”