(Photo: Jordan Talley/WCSN)
TEMPE — Arizona State hockey head coach Greg Powers has been waiting for a moment like the one at Mullett Arena on Friday for years.
Playoff hockey. A 5,000-seat, state-of-the-art arena flooded with fans wearing white. Games in March with NCAA Tournament implications. Powers’ vision of what his program could become was 16 years in the making, and it all finally materialized in Game 1 of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Quarterfinals.
It wasn’t pretty, but the No. 12 Sun Devils showed they were up for the monumental moment. Despite looking sloppy at several points of the game, ASU (20-13-2, 15-9-1 NCHC) out-paced Minnesota Duluth (13-19-3, 9-14-2 NCHC), overcoming two difficult periods to down the Bulldogs, 4-3. The Sun Devils lead the best-of-three series, 1-0, and can clinch a trip to the Frozen Faceoff.
“Somehow, we found a way to put one more in the net,” Powers said. “It was kind of a sloppy, back-and-forth game. And I told the guys after the game,‘Hey, it’s all about getting wins here and advancing, and we did that, but tomorrow we’ve got to be better. Our veteran guys have to manage pucks and play simple (in the defensive) zone and kill plays way better than we did tonight. We have to be better than we were tonight, but we’re going to end this tomorrow.’”
If you only watched the first 10 minutes of the game, you’d likely be under the impression that ASU was well on its way to cruising to a victory. Establishing a dominant forecheck early, the Bulldogs could barely get anything done in transition, and the Sun Devils’ aggressiveness eventually paid off.
Less than four minutes in, junior forward Bennett Schimek entered the zone and immediately cut to the middle, drawing the attention of both UMD defensemen. That left forward Ryan Kirwan all alone on the right wing, and when Schimek hit him with a quick pass, the senior fired a one-timer that trickled through freshman netminder Adam Gajan that sent Mullett Arena into a frenzy.
But ASU wasn’t finished quite yet, as possibly the most unlikely candidate stepped up just minutes later.
After intercepting a stretch pass from UMD’s zone, junior forward Charlie Schoen — who hasn’t played in the five games since ASU’s series-opener in Duluth on Feb. 14 — cruised past the blue line and beat Gajan five-hole with a quick wrister. Not even halfway through the opening frame, the Sun Devils were flat-out dominating.
“It helps, I think, when you come out to a certain atmosphere, like we did,” Schimek said. “You’re coming out of the tunnel, I don’t think I’ve seen Mullett that full that early in the game, which was awesome to see. (It) kind of gave us a boost.”
However, things began to unravel for the Sun Devils just as fast as they got off to their hot start. After a broken stick from graduate defenseman Noah Beck forced senior goaltender Luke Pavicich to make a glove save on forward Max Plante from point-blank range, the freshman cashed in on the very next opportunity that came his way.
With under eight minutes remaining in the period, Plante found himself battling with two ASU defenders in the slot and found an opening, catching Pavicich by surprise to put UMD on the board.
In the second period, it was the Sun Devils who struggled to get pucks out of their own zone. Anytime they generated a rush, they were quickly thwarted by the Bulldogs’ defense. As the frame droned on, a sense that the momentum was shifting fast continually set in.
While this didn’t bite them for the front half of the second, UMD capitalized thanks to its captain. Barreling through the neutral zone with a full head of speed, senior forward Dominic James gained a step on freshman defenseman Sam Court, cut into the middle and potted a high wrister, tying the game for the Bulldogs.
While Schimek put the Sun Devils back in front less than a minute later, freshman forward Zam Plante found himself all alone in the slot — a bad defensive breakdown from ASU — and made no mistake once he received a centering pass from senior defenseman Owen Gallatin. However, UMD once again evened it up before the period concluded.
“(UMD) was winning races,” Powers said. “They were winning battles, and we found a way. Again, I’m not trying to be negative, but we found a way to get a win, and I’m really proud of our guys for that, but the process wasn’t going to be good enough (if) we’re going to go on a deep run. It’s not even close.”
Despite experiencing similar issues in the third, sophomore forward Anthony Dowd put the Sun Devils back on top. About six minutes into the frame, Dowd found himself with a ton of space at the blue line and opted to take it, moving in close before roofing a backhander over Gajan’s glove.
“It was kind of low behind their net, and I got the puck, and then I just shot one on net quick, and then it popped out to the corner,” Dowd said. “So I just got it, took a line to the net, and I saw (graduate forward Dylan Jackson) for the one-timer, but their guy went right at him, so I just took it to the net and shot it.”
What ASU did do well on Friday, however, was execute on special teams, killing both penalties it took. One of those, which came in the third period, was cut short after Kirwan drew a tripping call on Max Plante.
While the Sun Devils were outshot 31-23, they found a way to win in spite of two sloppy periods, holding off UMD in the final minutes. Getting the victory is massive as they inch closer to a spot in the Frozen Faceoff — and a NCAA Tournament berth — but Powers knows it’s uber-important for ASU to win Game 2 on Saturday and prevent the series from extending to three games.
“We better be a lot better than we were tonight, or else we’re playing here on Sunday, and none of us want to come here Sunday,” Powers said. “We love our fans, we’d love to see them again, but we don’t want to see them Sunday. And tomorrow, if we play more our style and a little bit more assertive in a lot of areas, I like our chances.”
