(Photo: Aiden Longbrake/WCSN)
TEMPE – Being on the first line in hockey is something that players aren’t just handed. That honor is earned throughout the season, with players on that line needing to be the best players on the ice. Arizona State’s first line, consisting of sophomore forward Cullen Potter and Senior forwards Cruz Lucius and Bennett Schimek, has done just that, becoming one of the most dominant groups of players in the country.
ASU’s (11-10-1, 4-5-1 NCHC) recent success has been led by the three forwards, including in Saturday night’s 5-2 victory against Air Force (10-8-2, 6-5-1 AHA) in the Desert Hockey Classic. In the game, the trio combined for six of the Sun Devils’ points, including goals by Potter and Schimek. On the weekend, they combined for 14 points, an average of seven points per game in the two-game stretch.
“Tonight was more of what you would consider an off night for them, and they were still really productive,” head coach Greg Powers said. “They’ve been driving it for us, and they’re a handful for anybody. When they’re driving the play, and they’re as talented as they are, we’re going to be a handful.”
Even on an off night for them, the three men were still able to bag a pair of goals for the team while looking very dangerous on the power-play. While the pure volume of chances wasn’t there, with only six shots coming from that line, they made the ones they did have count. If they can continue at a pace of scoring 2 out of every six shots they take, they are going to have a lot more points and goals on nights where they have a higher number of shots.
Powers said he felt as if that line was the best in the country, and now he has the numbers to back that up. Saturday’s game puts the trio as the best statistical line in the entire country with 88 points, passing No. 1 Michigan’s top line of sophomore forwards Will Horcoff and Michael Hage, along with senior forward T.J. Hughes, who has 84 points combined.
“The two guys I’m playing with,” Schimek said, “They’re just so talented, so smart with the puck and fast at the same time. So, it’s just being out there with them. You can count on where they’re going to be on the ice and know they are going to do the right thing with the puck.”
The chemistry possessed by the three of them has been very noticeable for some time now. In their last eleven games, they have been seamlessly stringing passes together, knowing where each other are on the ice, proving to be a top-level brand of hockey for the Sun Devils. However, the season didn’t start the same for the three of them.
“When I have Lucius and Potter on both flanks, and they can rip the pill.” Schimek said, “I just give it to the good players a little bit.”
Even with the nation-leading tallies, Potter and Schimek started off the season a little slow. Potter was held without a goal until the seventh game of the year, only recording a pair of scores in his first 12 games. Since then, Potter has totaled 10 goals in 11 games, including a hat trick on Friday against Alaska Anchorage. He now has a point in 12 of his last 13 games and a goal in five consecutive games, tying an ASU school record.
Schimek started off the season slightly better than Potter, with four goals in his first 12 games. He’s gone on the same tear as Potter with a point in nine of his last 12 games, which has led him to be second in the country in total points with 31. His scoring ability has taken a jump as well, with six goals in 11 games, including a hat-trick against Minnesota Duluth that sparked a 6-3 win.
Lucius has been the star for the Sun Devils all season long with his NCAA-leading 32 points, already two off of his career-high of 34, when he was a Hobey Baker nominee in his freshman season at Wisconsin. With eleven multi-point games this season, Lucius has made his case to be a potential nominee again while helping the Sun Devils make their push for an NCAA Tournament spot.
“There are three really good players that all have a legitimate chance to play at the highest level in the world when they are done here.” Powers said of the aforementioned players, “They’re clicking, they’re confident, they’re moving the puck really well.”
With all three players clicking at the same time, averaging 4.19 points per game between them, the Sun Devils have been able to defy the odds. After a 3-7-1 start to the season, ASU has gone 8-3 in its last 11 games to have a winning record for the first time this season at 11-10-1.
The Sun Devils will need them to continue to perform at a top level and continue to stack wins if they are to have any chance at competing in the NCAA tournament or even the NCHC. Schimek, Potter, Lucius, and the rest of the Sun Devil team return to the ice Friday for a home series against Miami(OH).
“Stack wins,” Powers said, “It’s all about trying to get three points every time you take the ice now for the rest of the year, and climbing up the standings.”
