ASU Men’s Hockey: Sun Devils rise to No. 16 in rankings after split with Harvard

(Photo: Kylee Meter/WCSN)

For the second week in a row, Arizona State moved up in the USCHO top-20 rankings, sliding up two spots to N0. 16 after its series split at Harvard last weekend.

The Sun Devils climbed to a program-best 16th ranking with 230 votes after becoming ranked for the first time in program history at No. 18 last week. ASU moved down to No. 7 in the Pairwise Rankings, a measure used to select and seed teams for the NCAA Tournament.

In the first of first of three consecutive series away from Oceanside Ice Arena, the Sun Devils (10-4-0) went 1-1-0 in two games against Harvard, which touted one of the strongest offensive blue lines in the country.

A sluggish start and shortage of special teams success weighed down the Sun Devils from climbing out of a deep hole in the series-opening 4-1 loss. However, coach Greg Powers and company shook off nerves and bounced right back in a hard-fought 3-2 OT win with the maroon and gold support persistently cheering loud and strong throughout both nights.

“We’re 10-4 and that was the grittiest, character, gutsy win we’ve had as a program so far,” Powers said after the game. “When you tack on some of the adversity that was thrown our way unjustly tonight, and to see our guys get through, it was awesome.”

By picking up the victory in the series finale, ASU matched its program-record single-season win total set during their 2016-2017 campaign. The Sun Devils have never reached double-digits in the win column before December, and are on pace to easily set a new high.

Entering the series, the Crimson (2-3-2) dawned the No. 2 power play in the country, a lethal man-advantage unit with cannons bombarding from the blue line. Nevertheless, ASU answered, its No. 1 penalty kill in the nation needing to stay sharp with the team playing with men in the box for critical stretches both nights.

Despite surrendering two power-play markers in game one, the Sun Devils held Harvard to 1-for-7 on the second night with stronger pressure from the dynamic penalty-killing duo of seniors Anthony Croston and Dylan Hollman.

In fact, it was the penalty kill that sparked the comeback for the Sun Devils on Saturday. Trailing 2-1 late with 7:56 remaining in regulation, Hollman forced a turnover in the neutral zone and drove hard straight for the Crimson netminder Michael Lackey. A loose rebound right in the blue paint set up Croston with a game-tying no-doubter, giving the Sun Devils their first shorthanded goal of the season and knotting the score up at 2-2.

The Sun Devils and Crimson could not seal the deal in 60 minutes, so the second overtime period of the season for the Sun Devils ensued. Quickly after the puck dropped into overtime, ASU’s penalty kill would be tested once again.

Junior goaltender Joey Daccord flashed the leather twice with two huge saves off wide-open opportunities. With his family in attendance at Bright-Landry Center, the native of North Andover, Massachusetts bailed out the Sun Devils with 40 saves, improving his save percentage to .928 and his goals-against average to 2.22.

After successfully fending off their seventh penalty of the night, the Sun Devils transitioned from defense to offense in a hurry and 45 seconds later, freshman defenseman Josh Maniscalco unleashed a rocket from the left circle toward the Crimson goal. With the slightest of deflections, sophomore forward Johnny Walker redirected home the game-winner for his second OT goal of the season.

The Phoenix-native notched his NCAA-leading 12th goal of the season, snapping his three-game pointless streak. Walker is third in the country with 18 points and leads the country with 78 shots and six power play goals.

The No. 16 Sun Devils continue their six-game road trip with a rematch with Nebraska Omaha at Baxter Arena next weekend. ASU swept the Mavericks in Tempe earlier this season, outscoring them 13-5 in two games.

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