(Travis Whittaker/WCSN)
For senior forward Anthony Croston, career game No. 100 was a night he will never forget.
The Arizona State center and native of Scottsdale led the Sun Devils to a 6-3 win over Nebraska-Omaha Friday at Oceanside Arena, with the highlight of his night becoming a pivotal moment in ASU’s third-straight victory.
At the 6:21 mark of the opening period of play, Croston rushed down the ice with a burst of speed past Maverick defenseman Dean Stewart and drew a tripping penalty that rewarded him with a penalty shot.
After talking it over with his teammates, Croston crisply went to the right side and whistled the puck through five-hole to give the Sun Devils a 2-1 advantage and a big boost of momentum to carry the Sun Devils to victory.
“I knew what I was going to do right from the beginning. I went low blocker and it worked out well for me,” Croston said. “For the four years I’ve been here, it’s been amazing. Tonight, we played really well and everyone was going.”
In a very physical, penalty-filled contest, the Sun Devils (5-2-0) hung on to their lead over the Mavericks (0-4-1) to continue their best start to a season in program history.
Croston finished the night with two goals and an assist, tallying a team-high three points to lead his team to a season-high six goals in their third home win of the season.
With the penalties flying left and right for both sides all throughout the night, Croston’s presence was immensely felt on special teams. ASU and UNO collectively took 24 penalties and spent a total of 48 minutes in the box.
The Sun Devils killed off seven of UNO’s eight power play opportunities though. While the Sun Devils streak of killing penalties was snapped at 21 consecutive kills, Croston played a critical role on the top penalty kill unit alongside linemate Dylan Hollman to limit the Mavericks’ chances up a man.
On the flip side, the Sun Devils clicked twice in seven tries on the man-advantage with power play tallies from redshirt sophomore Austin Lemieux and junior defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk.
“We’re happy with how our power play structured. Our second unit got us a nice goal. [Brinson] finally got one,” ASU coach Greg Power said. “There’s some things to clean up, but, for the most part, I was really happy with how we looked tonight.”
Lemieux was precise in the goal crease and tucked home a loose rebound for his second goal of the season to put the Sun Devils on top 3-2 with 7:27 left to play in the first period.
On the fifth power play of the night, the co-captain fired a bomb top-shelf to extend the Sun Devils lead to a comfortable three-goal advantage. It was the first time this season the Sun Devils scored two power play goals in a game.
Junior goaltender Joey Daccord had another monster performance in between the pipes, making saves left and right to finish the night with a season-high 43 stops, the most saves he’s faced going back to last year’s 41-save performance at No. 13 Michigan. Nevertheless, Daccord stayed calm and collected in goal, keeping consistency in the back of his mind as a main focus.
“I try to bring the same mindset every night. I don’t try to steal games. I try to be consistent every game and give my team a chance to win,” Daccord said.
With the Mavericks mounting a late push down a pair of goals, UNO pulled out their goalie in the final minute of regulation.
After sophomore forward Johnny Walker forced a turnover, he passed to Croston and watched as the first star of the night skated down the right wing, broke out to the red line and flung the puck toward the empty net, scoring his second goal of the night.
Croston’s third point sealed the deal and the Sun Devils celebrated triumphantly, following the lead of their co-captain’s magical century-mark appearance to a third series-opening win in four tries this campaign.
