No. 12 ASU almost completes comeback in OT loss to No. 6 Denver

(Photo: Marina Williams/WCSN)

TEMPE – Momentum is a funny phenomenon in hockey. Momentum can shift at any point in a game. One shot can switch the momentum one way or another, just ask No. 12 Arizona State hockey.

Despite an early power play goal, the Sun Devils were stuck in their own zone for the majority of the opening frame, with senior goaltender Luke Pavicich fending off No. 6 Denver’s relentless attacks. Denver carried its strong play to a 3-1 lead halfway through the second. The Pioneers had the momentum.

Then, ASU responded with two goals in three minutes to tie and proceeded to dominate the remainder of the period. Denver took the lead six minutes into the third period, but the Sun Devils continued to generate scoring chances and limit the Denver offense. After scoring the tying goal with less than a minute left in regulation and starting the overtime period with a power play, ASU had the momentum. That is, until junior forward Aidan Thompson went bar-down on the Pioneers’ first possession in the offensive zone in overtime to win it for Denver.

Arizona State (16-10-1, 11-6-0) showed great resiliency to force overtime after being down 3-1 at one point and down 4-3 heading into the final minute of regulation and still forcing overtime, but ultimately came up short in its 5-4 loss in overtime to Denver (20-6-1, 9-5-1) at Mullett Arena Friday night.

“They were fast, they were heavy on sticks, relentless pressure all over the ice and we didn’t manage pucks well enough to get the win,” head coach Greg Powers said. “I love our resiliency to go down 3-1 to those guys and fight back and then obviously get a big goal to force overtime, it says a lot about our guys.”

With this overtime loss, the Sun Devils are now 1-4 in overtime on the season. The only win ASU has beyond regulation time came way back in the fourth game of the season against then No. 10 Michigan.

“We got to bury,” Powers said. “We needed somebody to step up and get a big goal for us, and we haven’t had that yet and it’s not like we’re getting behind. The only overtime I feel like we really didn’t play well was Michigan and it’s the one we got through.”

This overtime against Denver is one the Sun Devils really want to have back. In the dying seconds of the third period, Denver junior forward Samu Salminen took a tripping penalty to give ASU a power play to start the overtime period.

Despite possessing the puck inside Denver’s zone for the first four minutes of overtime, the Sun Devils only generated three shots on goal. Then, Thompson picked up the puck at Denver’s blue line and raced into the ASU zone and got to the left face-off dot before ripping a wrist shot over the shoulder of Pavicich and bar-down to end it.

“I think we just got to get pucks on the net,” junior forward Cruz Lucius said. “We were pretty perimeter trying to move it around. Ultimately in big games like that you just have to find a way. We have more than a good enough team, more than a good enough guys out there. When the game is on the line like that, we’ve got to bury it.”

Even though he gave up five goals, this was still an impressive outing from Pavicich. Denver’s offense was relentless in the first half of the game, forcing Pavicich to stand on his head and make some huge stops to keep the Sun Devils close. By the end of the night, he stopped 29 of 34 shots he faced.

“At the end of the day, we didn’t manage pucks well enough in front of him,” Powers said. “Just a couple turnovers that you can’t make against a team that good. They’re going to make you pay every time.”

One of the positive takeaways from the game for ASU is that it held the number one ranked power play in the nation in Denver scoreless in its three opportunities. The Sun Devils, the second ranked power play in the nation, went 1-for-3 and scored on their first opportunity less than two minutes into the game when freshman forward Cullen Potter sent a nasty saucer pass through all four Denver penalty killers to Lucius, who one-timed it home.

The cross-ice pass was working for ASU tonight as that was how the offense generated the majority of their high-danger scoring chances, including the opening and final goal that was scored. With 48 seconds left in regulation, chasing a goal and with the extra attacker on the ice, graduate student forward Artem Shlaine saw junior forward Bennett Schimek creeping towards the net behind the Denver defense and fired a cross-ice pass right to Shimek, who tapped it in to tie the game and sent a sold-out Mullett Arena crowd into a frenzy.

The overtime loss stings for the Sun Devils, but they will take all the points they can get as they currently sit in second place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC).

“I think we were happy with our resilience and our fight back, but at the end of the day we don’t want to put ourselves in that position to be down in the first place,” Schimek said. “We’ve got to come out tomorrow and play a full 60 if we want to get the results.”