(Photo: Austin Hurst/WCSN)
Members of No. 10 Arizona State hockey weren’t fooled by Minnesota Duluth’s pedestrian record leading up to this weekend’s series in the State of Hockey.
Despite an inconsistent season that saw the Bulldogs come into Friday at No. 40 in the PairWise Rankings with a 10-15-1 record, they still have a talented roster that contains 10 NHL Draft picks and several other big-time contributors. After all, UMD gave the Sun Devils a hard time when it visited Tempe in December, only losing by a combined three goals in an ASU sweep.
Their assessment proved to be spot-on, even though a win over the No. 40 team in the PairWise was imperative.
The Bulldogs kept pace with the Sun Devils all night and ultimately got the better of the scoring chances, especially in the game’s second half. It took more than 60 minutes, but UMD (11-15-1, 7-10 NCHC) was finally rewarded, as sophomore defenseman Aaron Pionk cashed in 2:37 into the extra frame to secure a 3-2 victory over ASU (17-11-1, 12-7 NCHC) and ending its program-record road winning streak at six games.
ASU had trouble staying out of the box early on, taking two penalties within the first 12 minutes of the game. That lack of discipline didn’t come back to bite the Sun Devils either time, as they only allowed one combined shot on both, but UMD cashed in quickly after the second penalty expired.
Seconds after sophomore defenseman Anthony Dowd exited the penalty box, senior forward Dominic James buried a one-timer on a cross-ice feed from senior forward Owen Gallatin. While senior netminder Luke Pavicich got a piece of the blast, it wasn’t enough, as the puck slid through his five-hole and across the goal line, putting the Bulldogs up 1-0.
But thanks to a lapse of discipline on UMD’s part, ASU’s lethal power play, the third-most efficient in the nation, didn’t require much time to respond. It needed 39 seconds and 10 seconds on the man advantage to be exact.
On a perfectly-executed tic-tac-toe play, graduate forward Lukas Sillinger found sophomore forward Kyle Smolen just above the crease. Smolen proceeded to make a behind-the-back pass to graduate forward Artem Shlaine on the backdoor for an easy tap-in.
UMD was advertised as a talented team that also possessed a ton of speed, and the latter was clear from the opening face off. However, during the first period, ASU did a great job of neutralizing that speed by clogging up the neutral zone and playing physical in their own zone. At the end of one, the Bulldogs led in shots on goal, 9-6, but the Sun Devils’ defensive structure was a big reason why the opposition didn’t generate a ton of scoring chances early on.
When the puck dropped to begin the second period, it was all ASU. UMD freshman goaltender Klayton Knapp was forced to make multiple big saves, including two on what turned into a high-danger scoring chance.
Less than two minutes into the frame, freshman defenseman Brasen Boser rifled a long-range shot that produced a rebound in the crease and into the wheelhouse of junior forward Bennett Schimek, who was situated just above the blue paint. He couldn’t convert, though. Schimek went to his backhand with what looked like a wide-open net, but Knapp dived at the last second to keep the puck out.
About three minutes later, the Sun Devils got to Knapp again. Sillinger and Schimek combined for a perfect give-and-go on a zone entry, which resulted in UMD leaving the middle of the ice open. Sillinger saw his opportunity and took it, cruising down Broadway and putting a close wrister past the Bulldogs’ netminder.
But as the period went on, UMD began to steal the momentum, and while a lack of discipline didn’t harm ASU earlier in the game, that changed when graduate forward Artem Shlaine took a tripping penalty less than two minutes after ASU made it 2-1.
The Sun Devils limited the Bulldogs early in the man advantage, but 35 seconds in, the hosts finally broke through. Freshman defenseman Ty Hanson let a shot go from the point that bounced off Pavicich and onto the stick of fellow freshman Callum Arnott, who spun around and buried the biscuit.
After two periods of play, UMD had a 19-13 advantage in shots on goal. While ASU outshot the opposition, 10-4, in the third, it played a sloppy frame that ultimately gave the Bulldogs some quality chances, even if they didn’t capitalize.
A prime example of this was with about six minutes remaining when Pavicich attempted to handle the puck but ultimately turned it over along the goal line to freshman forward Max Plante. While Plante hit freshman Blake Bechen alone in the slot, the forward lost control of the puck — a major bail-out for the Sun Devils.
In overtime, however, they weren’t so lucky.
Minutes after freshman forward Jayson Shaugabay put a wrister off the pipe, Poink danced around Schimek, moved into the slot and fired a wrist shot that beat Pavicich and sealed the overtime victory for UMD.
The loss drops ASU from No. 13 to No. 15 in the PairWise Rankings and also has implications in the NCHC standings. The two teams competing with ASU for the top spot in the conference — No. 3 Western Michigan and No. 20 Omaha — battled in Kalamazoo, Mich. Friday, with the Broncos picking up a 5-4 overtime win. This means that WMU remains in first place with 40 points while ASU and Omaha are tied for second with 38, each getting a point for their respective overtime losses.
The Sun Devils will need to secure a series split in Duluth tomorrow, with puck drop set for 5:07 p.m. MST.
