ASU Men’s Hockey: Sun Devils return home for showdown with Colorado College

Last weekend’s sweep against Princeton almost felt like it had to happen for Arizona State. The Sun Devils were coming off an embarrassing sweep against a lowly Nebraska-Omaha and had to get back on track. They did.

And if Arizona State wants to keep its reputation as the No.15 team in the country, then it have to take care of business this weekend as well against Colorado College, a team that’s in the midst of a program rebuild after a successful run earlier in the decade. The Tigers are having a good season so far this year, sitting at 7-7-2 this year and on pace for their best record since 2012-2013.

They have a prolific offense, able move the puck around well; eight different Tigers have more than five assists on the season. Led by junior forward Nick Halloran, an NHL prospect described as a “scoring machine” by USCHO, Colorado College is top 15 in the country in goals scored and top 12 in shots attempted so far this season.

“I don’t think anyone actually likes playing defense,” said senior Brinson Paschinuk. “[It’s the] same as always. It starts with us getting the puck deep in their end and keeping them jammed in there and not allowing them to be in our end as much as possible.”

This could be problematic for the Sun Devils, who are still giving up the 6th most shots in the country this year. But thanks to junior netminder Joey Daccord, they’ve fallen considerably in the goals allowed ranking. Daccord was exceptional again last weekend at Princeton, which included a 45 save shutout Friday night. Daccord, like the rest of the team, needed that after faltering in Omaha.

“It’s definitely nice that we get to come back home,” Daccord said. “We haven’t played at home in a while. We’re excited.”

Still, the Tigers offense could put a lot of pressure on ASU. The amount of shots Colorado College puts on net is indicative of the skill guys the Tigers possess who can push the puck forward.

“They’ve got three really good lines,” said coach Greg Powers. “They’re a good team.”

If Colorado College is overwhelming on the offensive end, the Sun Devils should be able to answer. They’re the sixth-highest scoring team in the country, and Tigers goaltender Alex Leclerc is in the middle of the country’s pack in goals-against-average, ranking 38th out of 80 eligible goaltenders with a 2.48 GAA.

Powers touted Leclerc’s abilities this week though, calling him a “great goalie.”

The Tigers are terrible on the penalty kill. They possess the 8th worst percentage on it in the country this year at 76.0%. While the numbers probably aren’t as good as ASU wants them to be (they’re only converting 18.8% of the time, an above-average rank nationwide but not a top one), the power play is ASU’s No.1 priority.

“Our guys… they just have to execute,” said Powers. “We got a big power-play goal on Saturday finally. We just went back to basics.”

Perhaps that’s what could power ASU to a successful weekend against Colorado College. For the first time ever since going D1, winning back-to-back series could be considered part of the ‘basics.’ Taking care of home games, especially, could be crucial in their hunt for a postseason berth.