ASU Men’s Hockey: Sun Devils’ improvement continues in sweep of Nebraska-Omaha

(Photo: Travis Whittaker/WCSN)

After receiving their first ever USCHO poll vote, the Sun Devils needed a strong showing against Nebraska-Omaha last weekend to prove their belonging among some of the country’s top teams.

They delivered.

Arizona State swept the Mavericks, with a 6-3 win on Friday night and a 7-2 win on Saturday night. Outshooting Omaha 93-79 in the series, the Devils had control of most of the series, though Friday night was a closer game than the score suggested. A high-action, electric first period had the Devils neck-in-neck with Omaha, with the score being 3-2 heading into the first intermission.

The Devils moved the puck around well, which led to the six-goal outburst. Two of those came off the stick of Anthony Croston, who was playing in his 100th career game. One came off a penalty shot, thanks to a tripping call on Omaha’s Dean Stewart.

“I have tremendous faith in [Croston],” said Coach Greg Powers Friday night. “It’s why he’s out there in all the pressure situations.”

Powers mentioned how everything came together for Croston on his special night, referencing the “hockey gods” helping the moment happen.

Friday was also a special night for goaltender Joey Daccord, who made 43 saves and faced eight Nebraska-Omaha power plays.

“Our guys played hard,” Powers said. “A lot of our penalties are infractions that don’t need to happen. But this kid next to me [Daccord] stood on his head and held us in.”

The penalties and a slow 2nd period were the only negatives in the 6-3 win. Those were corrected in a big way Saturday.

Friday night wasn’t the only night for special occurrences. Between Johnny Walker’s four-goal game and Powers’ designation of it being the Sun Devils’ “best effort of the year”, Saturday’s 7-2 win had just as much meaning as Friday’s.

Unlike Game 1, the Sun Devils dominated in Game 2. After being outshot (despite the win) Friday, ASU fired 20 more pucks at the net than Omaha, and made crisp, clean passes to help put seven of those shots in. ASU’s defensemen were active, deflecting passes and keeping the puck out of the Omaha offensive zone.

“We want to be a really aggressive forecheck team, especially at home, and we were tonight [Saturday night],” said Powers.

Saturday was Walker’s night despite the great team play. The sophomore forward put four pucks in the back of the net; all of them via the power play. Walker has excelled on special teams since being put in the point position; he leads all of Division 1 hockey in goals and points after the weekend with eight and 13, respectively.

“A lot of credit to my linemates and to the power play,” said Walker after the game.

Walker’s humbleness was a large underestimate of his impact on Game 2. Three of his four goals were snipes from the wing spots. Left open, Walker gained possession and fired. There was no way he was passing up those shots, and after the third goal, it felt like there was no way he was missing again.

It was a near flawless effort for the Sun Devils Saturday night, though a couple small mistakes were made. Both of Omaha’s two goals came on breakaway opportunities, which were botched by the ASU defense. The Sun Devils found themselves in a 2-on-1 situation on the Mavericks’ first score, and let in the second one right off a face-off late in the 2nd. Omaha had other breakaway opportunities, but couldn’t find the net due to ASU’s stingy defense or Daccord’s stops.

With this weekend’s sweep, the Sun Devils are proving one thing: They are at least on track.

They’re beating teams they should and even in their two losses competed with the best. Sweeps of Alaska-Fairbanks, Alabama-Huntsville and Nebraska-Omaha have gotten ASU to six wins, three-quarters of their total from last year. Granted, all of those three opponents are still winless but wins are wins and ASU is on track to improve from last year.

The schedule is about to get hard – really hard- with Penn State, Michigan State and Harvard lined up as ASU’s next three opponents; three schools that are either ranked or very well respected throughout the country. With last week’s poll vote and a 6-2 record, ASU is looking for that type of respect, and next weekend, they’ll have a chance to prove they deserve it.