As the final horn sounded on Friday night at Mullett Arena, all No. 20 Arizona State men’s hockey netminder Gibson Homer felt was a sense of relief.
The sophomore had just completed a 37-save shutout, the first of his collegiate career, to keep the Sun Devils’ slim NCAA Tournament hopes alive. But perhaps the most impressive part of his flawless performance was the fact that it came against Alaska Fairbanks (12-11-2) — a bitter rival that his team is 0-7-1 against since 2022 — in a 2-0 victory for ASU (19-6-6).
“(Homer) was awesome,” head coach Greg Powers said. “He was sharp. A lot of stuff from the perimeter, and he was just in control, square to everything, controlled everything. And not a lot of odd-man rush opportunities or backdoor-type stuff. (Homer) made some big saves when he had to, and he was just in control of the game… It just felt like they weren’t going to get one by him, and they didn’t.”
However, Friday wasn’t the first time he’s stepped up during the back half of the 2023-24 campaign. Due to junior netminder and usual starter TJ Semptimphelter experiencing a rough patch of late, Homer has been afforded more opportunities to shine between the pipes, most of which he’s taken full advantage of. In two starts over ASU’s previous two series, Homer only allowed a combined three goals while making 59 total saves.
As is the norm in any shutout, the Grand Rapids, Michigan native needed to stand on his head at times to keep the Nanooks scoreless. And on Friday, those times came early. Less than four minutes into the game, a costly turnover in the defensive zone gave graduate defenseman T.J. Lloyd a quality look from the slot, but Homer effortlessly turned aside the ensuing wrist shot.
It appeared Alaska would find the back of the net again almost six minutes into the third. After stopping an initial try on the right side of his net, a rebound drifted into the slot and onto the stick of freshman forward William Lawson-Body with an open net in front of him. However, his shot was met by a diving Homer, who miraculously kept the puck out of the net and his shutout bid alive.
Like most goaltenders, though, Homer was quick to credit the part his teammates played in the shutout. The Sun Devils finished with nine blocked shots and did a good job of limiting the amount of high-danger scoring chances their netminder faced.
“The guys battled for me, that’s for sure,” Homer said. “A lot of blocked shots, no second chances that our team gave up, so that was good.”
Friday’s contest was also significant because it marked the return of senior forward Ty Jackson, who missed over two months due to an injury sustained on Dec. 1 at Colorado College. Jackson, the Sun Devils’ first-line center before he went down, made his presence felt immediately during his first game back. Just 11 minutes into the game, he won an offensive zone faceoff that found sophomore forward Charlie Schoen’s stick as he drifted to the middle of the ice, allowing him to rifle a quick wrister past senior goaltender Pierce Charleson to give ASU a 1-0 lead.
From the get-go, it was clear that Jackson was clicking with Schoen and Lukas Sillinger, his two linemates. Sillinger was always a member of the first line, and Schoen has a similar playstyle to senior forward Dylan Jackson, who played on Ty’s right wing before also sustaining an injury at Colorado College.
Jackson and Sillinger’s connection was on full display during ASU’s second goal of the night, which came on the power play midway through the second period. Sillinger held the puck on the left wing as he drifted towards the goal line and sent a saucer pass over two Nanooks sticks and right to Jackson, who tapped in the feed for an easy goal.
“Dylan and I were playing with (Sillinger) at the start of the year, so we already kind of had that chemistry,” Jackson said. “I love how quick (Schoen) is, how fast he is and he plays really intense, so that makes it a lot easier for me as a centerman. If I’m battling down low and he’s first on the forecheck really hard, it makes my life a lot easier.”
While ASU mostly made things easy for Homer, there were a few instances where they did quite the opposite, but none more egregious than an avoidable penalty from freshman forward Kyle Smolen. In front of the Sun Devils bench, Smolen laid a hit on a Nanook in a vulnerable position and was subsequently pinned with a five-minute major and ten-minute misconduct, prematurely ending his night.
In the ensuing five minutes, Alaska totaled ten shots on net, but none got by Homer, who made some nifty saves during the penalty kill. Despite the high volume of shots, ASU was successful in clogging up high-danger shooting lanes and limiting the grade-A chances afforded to the Nanooks.
“Kill was great, huge five-minute kill,” Powers said. “I love how we played up until (Smolen) took that penalty. And he’s a hell of a player, he’s been a really good freshman for us. But that was a really stupid freshman mistake that really changed the momentum in the game, and his teammates bailed him out tonight.”
With the victory, the Sun Devils are tied at No. 17 in the PairWise Rankings. However, to remain in the NCAA Tournament conversation, there will be little margin for error in the next three games against the Nanooks. It’s difficult to beat any team four times in one season, and ASU will certainly have its work cut out for it if it intends to beat a hard-nosed and talented opponent like Alaska three more times.
“They just play hard,” Powers said. “They’re well-coached and they’re always above pucks. They track hard and their gaps are good, not fun or easy to play against at all. We’ve got three straight against them starting tomorrow, and four straight overall. So they’re a challenge.”
