ASU Men’s Hockey: Walker’s vital role on this NCAA Tournament-bound team

(Photo: Riley Trujillo/WCSN)

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – It was evident all weekend long in Arizona State’sregular-season season series at Mariucci Arena.

As Johnny Walker watched from above, nursing an ankle injury with a boot and crutches, his teammates broke down, on an Olympic-sized sheet of ice, drastically in back-to-back loses against the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

From hundreds of feet away, the country’s leading goal scorer emphatically shouted words of motivation down to ice level. Yet, without him on the ice, the No. 13 Sun Devils struggled to do what Walker does best: find the back of the net.

Entering the month ASU journeyed to the State of Hockey averaging 3.28 goals per game, which ranked as the 12th highest-scoring offense in the country.

The Sun Devils’ foundation of strong netminding and a scorching-hot lineup that had led to five consecutive wins prior went missing against Minnesota. Due to an injury sustained at practice earlier in the week, Walker missed both nights, forcing coach Greg Powers to make unwanted changes over the weekend.

“It’s tough for the power play, they were disoriented in a major way,” Powers said. “They did the best that they could, but it wasn’t enough.”

Consequently, the Sun Devils were only able to manufacture three total goals while surrendering 10 to an offensively explosive Gophers squad. Without their top scorer, they couldn’t get the job done.

“We missed [Walker] all weekend,” Powers said. “He’s a weapon. It makes other teams have to notice him and it opens up opportunities for everyone else.”

On the shot counter, ASU was dominated 73-37 and forced to spent extensive, hard-working shifts in its defensive zone. While its even-strength play was lack-luster, the power play unit took an even bigger hit without Walker, who paces the team with nine man-advantage goals, six more than the team’s next closest power-play scorer.

Earning an appropriate promotion, freshman defenseman Josh Maniscalco jumped onto the top unit in Walker’s place on the right point. However, despite two blue-liners quarterbacking the majority of the time on the man-advantage, the Sun Devils failed to connect on crisp passes or create any high-quality scoring chances.

As a result, the 49th-ranked power-play went 0-for-6 and generated just five shots on goal during the weekend.

The Sun Devils’ special-team struggles weren’t limited to offensive zone issues though.

In the series finale, ASU got a man-advantage trailing 4-2 four minutes left in the game. But instead of lighting the lamp, the Gophers defense stepped up with timely shot blocks and poke-checks, which in turn led to three short-handed breakaway opportunities.

“I have never seen that before,” Powers said in disbelief. “It was carelessness with the puck and it was unfortunate. We thought when we got that power play, we could cut it to one, but it just did not work out.”

Joey Daccord prevented the first pair of 1-on-0 chances with dazzling saves, but Minnesota’s leading power-play producer Rem Pitlick drove home the dagger on the final shot of the night. The Sun Devils were sent home empty-handed.

While the Sun Devils’ impressive 21-win campaign has revolved around more than one player, last weekend’s two-game stretch revealed how vital Walker is to the chemistry and confidence of the Sun Devils’ offense.

After missing the final pair of regular season games, Walker is now tied for the NCAA lead in goals with Lake Superior’s Diego Cuglietta at 23 tallies. On top of breaking the Arizona State single-season goals record in consecutive collegiate campaigns, Walker also holds a team-leading 34 points, four game-winning goals, and 153 shots on goal. The Hobey Baker Award nominee has accounted for 21.3% of the ASU’s offensive production, including nine of the team’s 21 power-play markers (42.8%).

The Phoenix-native has registered 11 multi-point performances, including a wild four-goal game on home ice against Nebraska Omaha and the 4-3 overtime winner over then-No. 6 ranked Penn State on the road, marking the program’s first-ever victory over a top-10 opponent.

Walker’s teammates know how tough it is when the sophomore superstar vanishes from the lineup, especially for junior forward Brett Gruber, who tallied one of ASU’s three goals on the road trip.

“You can’t describe how important [Walker] is,” Gruber said, “He’s the leading goal scorer in the country and he’s a really great team player, always in the locker room cheering up the guys. Not only is he important on the ice, but he’s important off the ice. It was a huge loss for us this weekend.”

Many of the Sun Devils envision Walker as the critical component to the team’s overall success. However, junior defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk, the Sun Devils’ top-notch blueliner with a team-best 17 assists and plus-25 rating, says it should not be the reason for a lack of effort.

“It sucks having Johnny out. He can put the puck in the net,” the co-captain said, “We have to go out every night. It’s no excuse to allow 10 goals on a weekend and only score three. I think we just need to do a better job of being prepared for the unexpected each game.”

That’s exactly what the players and coaches will have to do as they play the waiting game for the next few weeks.

With the regular season wrapped up, the Sun Devils stand at No. 8 in the pivotal Pairwise rankings. ASU will likely earn its first-ever at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and could enter the tournament as high as a No. 2 seed.

Powers indicated Walker’s injury wasn’t serious and was hopeful that the sophomore winger would be back for the Tournament. Based off their winless trip to Minnesota, the Sun Devils might need him back in the lineup to make any sort of postseason run.

“Three weeks off to refocus, rest and recover from the six-month season is a really great break,” Pasichnuk said. “We’ll get to bond as a team and get back to work knowing what’s ahead.”

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