Five takeaways from ASU’s weekend split with St. Cloud State

(Photo: Sun Devil Athletics)

In a spooky weekend filled with Halloween festivities, Arizona State got a frightening visit from a ghost of its past — an NCHC series sweep.

The Sun Devils last swept a conference series 638 days ago at Miami (Ohio) on Feb. 1, 2025.

ASU took the first of two games against St. Cloud State, 3-2, with third-period heroics from second-year forward Jack Beck, who tipped in a shot from third-year defenseman Rylan Brown. On Saturday, the Sun Devils couldn’t climb back from an early two-goal deficit in the first period, falling 2-1 to St. Cloud State, with their lone goal coming from second-year defenseman Richard Baran.

Even with the series split, the 5-3 start to the year is still the best start for ASU since the 2023-2024 season.

Here are five takeaways from the weekend:

Hakstol’s First Series Back

One of the NCHC’s founding coaches back in 2013, ASU head coach Dave Hakstol returned this weekend after a decade-long absence from the league. It was an overall successful first NCHC series of the year, even if the Sun Devils failed to complete a sweep.

Saturday’s loss snapped the Sun Devils’ four-game winning streak and pushed Hakstol’s ASU record to 3-1. The former North Dakota coach now holds a 32-16-2 all-time record in the NCHC.

The biggest roster note from the series was the absence of third-year forward Nic Chin-Degraves. Chin-Degraves hasn’t played since the opening series of the year against Lindenwood and is no longer listed on the online Sun Devils’ roster.

As for Hakstol’s lines, despite not being the top line, it appeared that Hakstol trusted third-year junior Ben Muthersbaugh’s and second-year Daniel Shlaine’s lines, as both were on the ice during important moments down the stretch for ASU.

Muthersbaugh had two points in the series, posting a goal and assist in Friday’s win. Shlaine didn’t show up on the stat sheet, though his impact showed all over the ice.

Spectacular Special Teams

Special teams were a huge factor for the Sun Devils, finishing 2-for-5 on the power play and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill in the series. The team’s two power-play goals came in the first game, helping them tie it up, 2-2, after the first period.

ASU’s power play in its second game looked comfortable, especially during its first chance, which came with around five minutes remaining in the first period. Though the puck didn’t find the back of the net, the Sun Devils’ power play generated a ton of momentum, cutting ASU’s deficit to one with about one minute left in the period.

Since Hakstol took over with the Sun Devils, they have gone 5-for-12 on the power play at 41.6%. This season, ASU is 8-for-28 (28.6%), ranking 10th in the NCAA.

Over the weekend, the Sun Devils remained efficient down a man, holding St. Cloud’s power play scoreless. ASU has allowed only one goal on the penalty kill in 26 opportunities, the fourth-best percentage in all of NCAA hockey at 96.2%.

Cornell, Yale and Dartmouth — the teams ranked in front of the Sun Devils’ penalty-kill unit — have each played just one game and killed no more than three power plays. ASU’s impressive special teams could be crucial throughout conference play if it can maintain its pace.

Goalie Galore

ASU’s second-year goaltender Samuel Urban earned the win on Friday with 28 saves while shutting out St. Cloud State in the second and third periods, but Huskies’ second-year goaltender Yan Shostak could not be ignored. Shostak made 42 saves and allowed only one goal in the Huskies’ win, earning him first star of the game.

Similarly to Urban’s performance, both of second-year goaltender Sam Hillebrandt’s goals allowed in Saturday’s game also came in the first period.

The first goal was a perfectly executed pass from behind the net leading to a slot finish from St. Cloud State first-year forward Hayden Paupanekis. The second was a redirected shot around Hillebrandt’s left pad from Huskies third-year forward William Ahlrik.

Hillebrandt still finished with 25 saves and also made crucial stops that kept ASU in the game. Still, the fault for its goalies was the first frame.

Period Inconsistency

In the series, the first period accounted for seven of the eight goals over the weekend, with St. Cloud State scoring four of them. The second period had zero scoring in either game and the third favored the Sun Devils with their game-winning goal in Game 1.

ASU needs to clean up the first period to continue its success. They scored three goals in the opening frame; two on Friday and one on Saturday. However, this bipolar period could possibly show they were being reckless with the puck, leading to chances on both ends of the ice.

As for the middle frame, they didn’t make any major mistakes, but they also didn’t make any plays to add a goal to the scoreboard.

Sun Devils Dominate Shot Chart

The Sun Devils outshot the Huskies all weekend long — 34-30 in game one, and 43-27 in game two. These shots translate to the scoreboard, as ASU currently ranks 11th in NCAA scoring offense, averaging 3.75 goals per game.

The Sun Devils have taken 299 shots over eight games, averaging about 37 per game.

Some of these shots don’t seem to be high-danger chances, as shown by ASU’s 0.10 shooting percentage, though its scoring offense covers any concern about scoring opportunities.

All in all, the series was a success for Hakstol and ASU, but not perfect. It will take some time to adapt to a new coaching style and build chemistry on and off the rink.

The Sun Devils are in for a real test with No. 3 Denver traveling to Tempe for an NCHC faceoff on Nov. 6 and 8. The defending national champions come off a home sweep of Omaha and will go on the road for the second time this season.

ASU has been competitive in just about every game so far this year; however, now it has to compete with the best of the best. Most importantly, the Sun Devils have to show up for the full 60 minutes.

No taking periods or stretches of time off.