No. 11 Sun Devils’ Season Ends With 4-2 Loss To No. 6 Denver in NCHC Semifinals

(Photo: Joshua Eaton/WCSN)

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Graduate forward Artem Shlaine’s game-tying goal in the second period of Arizona State hockey’s NCHC Frozen Faceoff Semifinal game was a perfect embodiment of his team’s mindset throughout the 2024-25 campaign.

Likely playing with a fractured foot after blocking a shot in the first per head coach Greg Powers, his relentless forecheck forced Denver sophomore defenseman Garrett Brown into a turnover deep in the Pioneers’ defensive zone. Shlaine then cut to the middle of the ice and backhanded a rolling puck past senior netminder Matt Davis, evening the score at two after his team fell behind 2-0.

The No. 11 Sun Devils have shown that same resilience countless times throughout the season, and it’s exactly what catapulted ASU into the upper echelon of the NCHC. But on Friday, it wasn’t enough. Junior forward Aidan Thompson’s go-ahead goal in the third proved the difference at Xcel Energy Center, propelling No. 6 Denver (29-10-1, 15-7-1 NCHC), the defending National Champions, to a 4-2 win over the Sun Devils (21-13-2, 14-9-1 NCHC), effectively ending their season.

“This is a really resilient group,” Powers said. “We got off to a slow start, tons of injuries. It was just one of those years, and we were never able to put — not once — what we had projected to be our top-12 forwards on the ice… But our guys, it got to a point where we had to make a choice. We could either let those be excuses or the obstacles in the way, or turn that adversity into our advantage.

“That’s exactly what these guys did. I told them, I said, ‘You guys are challenged… You’re challenged when you get here to leave this place better than you found it. Every single one of those guys did. They can look at themselves in the mirrors and know that they did that, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Slow starts have become somewhat of a theme for the Sun Devils of late, as they quickly fell into a 3-0 first-period deficit in Game 2 of the NCHC Quarterfinals against Minnesota Duluth last Saturday. That was again the case Friday, as although the shots were relatively even in the first at 14-12 Denver, the Pioneers had the far better chances and were simply outplaying ASU.

At certain moments, the Sun Devils struggled to break out and had trouble matching their opponent’s speed, and that quickly came back to bite them. Less than two minutes into the game, sophomore forward Kieran Cebrian won an offensive-zone draw back to sophomore defenseman Boston Buckberger, who fired a long-range shot that beat senior goaltender Luke Pavicich with traffic in front.

One of the few high-danger looks ASU had in the first was a 2-on-0 breakaway for senior forward Ryan Kirwan and graduate forward Dylan Jackson. After receiving a pass from Kirwan, Jackson went across the crease and to his backhand, but Davis stayed with it and turned the attempt aside.

Play began to even out a bit as the period went on, but sophomore defenseman Cole Gordon took a blatant holding penalty with under five minutes left after bringing down Cebrian on a rush. Denver made him pay as sophomore forward Sam Harris buried a rebound, putting the finishing touches on a forgettable period for ASU.

“I think the message was just for everyone to settle down a bit, take a deep breath,” senior defenseman Ty Murchison said. “Got the jitters out of the way. Obviously, (Denver is) a great team and can capitalize on chances, so just minimizing those and playing our game, because we know our game is as good as theirs, and that we can compete with anybody.”

The Sun Devils continued to do just that when they stepped on the ice, and they were eventually rewarded.

As soon as the second frame began, one could see ASU was playing far more relaxed. The Sun Devils played a tighter game and limited Denver’s chances, and something finally gave about eight minutes in. With ASU on a power play, senior forward Ryan Kirwan put home a rebound from a long-range shot to put his team on the board and record his NCHC-leading 26th goal.

From the first period on, Sun Devils’ forecheck resulted in an increased number of scoring chances and led to Shlaine’s strike in the dying moments of the frame. That carried into the third, where ASU held the edge in shots, 9-8. However, Davis made some big saves to keep his opponents from taking the lead. Pavicich was impressive in his own right, stopping a breakaway attempt from Harris 1:40 into the frame.

For as well as ASU was playing, one small mistake ultimately proved the turning point of the game. After Murchison turned the puck over and fell to his knee while doing so, Denver had a 2-on-1 with senior forward Carter King and Thompson. King dished the puck to Thompson, who made no mistake with a wide-open net and gave the Pioneers a lead they didn’t relinquish.

“We were confident,” Powers said. “Their guy made some big saves, and it’s just the way it works… We had a bad puck touch on a simple D-to-D (pass) and gave up a 2-on-1. We were in the (offensive) zone, buzzing around, making plays, and we felt like we were going to get the next one and not look back… That’s a team that you can’t make those mistakes against, they’re too good.”

The loss all but spells the end of ASU’s season, as they are now at No. 15 in the PairWise Rankings, which are heavily relied on in the 16-team NCAA Tournament selection process. There will be at least two bid-stealers — the Atlantic Hockey and ECAC champions — and those push the Sun Devils out of the postseason picture.

That isn’t to say 2024-25 was a failure though. Prior to the season, Powers stated his team’s goal was to host an NCHC playoff series in its first season as a part of the league. Despite being picked to rank eighth in the conference, they did just that, finishing second in the regular season and sweeping Minnesota Duluth in the quarterfinals.

A year removed from winning a program-record 24 games, the Sun Devils had yet another historic campaign, winning 21 games in one of college hockey’s most competitive conferences. While the desire to make its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019 was certainly there, this season’s group will undoubtedly go down in ASU hockey history for setting the standard for years to come.

“What I’m proud is, I usually live by the thing (where) you prove people wrong,” Shlaine said. “(Powers) always says it’s all about the people that believe in us, but I kind of come from a little different background. I (come) from people who don’t believe in me (and) I prove them wrong. And I think we proved (people wrong), especially starting from everyone who didn’t believe in us and put us eighth…

“It’s a lesson for everyone for next year to believe in this team, believe in this group of guys, whoever’s going to get new guys on the team. (Western Michigan) had 17 new guys, and guess what? They won the (Penrose Cup) and ASU is (going to have) new guys, too, and I’m sure they’re going to do the same thing next year.”