No. 13 Sun Devils Score Four Power Play Goals, Clinch Road Sweep Over No. 15 St. Cloud State

(Photo: Grace Johnson/WCSN)

No. 13 Arizona State hockey assumed the top spot in the NCHC standings after a 6-3 win over No. 15 St. Cloud State on Friday. Following a near-perfect special teams performance on Saturday night, the Sun Devils can hold that position for at least another week.

ASU (13-8-1, 8-4 NCHC) put up a season-high four goals on the man advantage en route to defeating St. Cloud State (11-11, 4-8 NCHC) 5-3 for its third road sweep.

The Sun Devils showed no hesitation to capitalize on their opponents’ missteps. Just eight minutes in, a double-minor roughing penalty called on the Huskies turned into graduate forward Lukas Sillinger notching his second goal of the series with a one-timer, putting ASU up 1-0.

It took until nearly halfway through the second period for the score sheet to see any change. Sophomore forward Tyson Gross rebounded a puck bouncing off the end boards to catch junior goaltender Gibson Homer by surprise and tie the game up at one apiece.

Down to a little over eighteen minutes left to play in regulation, the Sun Devils needed a spark of opportunity just as they had Friday night down 3-1. Lucky for them, that spark came in the form of Gross getting called for a five-minute major after checking sophomore forward Cole Gordon into the boards.

40 seconds later, graduate defenseman Noah Beck possessed the puck near the blue line before fooling the St. Cloud State defense with a fake pass and firing a quick wrist shot that put Arizona State back in front.

The floodgates only opened further as graduate forward Ty Jackson poked in a pass right in front of the net from junior forward Bennett Schimek, and four consecutive saves by fifth-year goaltender Gavin Enright weren’t enough to prevent senior forward Ryan Kirwan from scoring his third goal of the series. All it took was two minutes for the Sun Devils to turn a tie into a three-goal advantage.

However, the Huskies used the remaining 15 minutes in the period to put together a near-comeback. Freshman forward Gavyn Thoreson threw up a shot that found its way into the net after bouncing off Beck’s skate on top of a goal by sophomore forward Daimon Gardner with three minutes left putting ASU in danger.

When the team needed him most, Gibson Homer put the Sun Devils on his back with two crucial saves including a highlight-reel diving deflection on a wide-open net. The man in between the pipes buckling down in the final minutes paved the way for graduate forward Artem Shlaine to score an empty-netter that shut the door on any potential collapse.

Arizona State’s special teams finished with unreal numbers across both games, going five for nine on the power play and five for six on the penalty kill. While blocking 15 out of 25 shots on goal for a less efficient outing than the night prior, Homer picked up his fourth straight win as starting netminder.

Three points for another regulation win increases the Sun Devils’ point total to 25; good enough for first place outright in the NCHC. Close behind them are Western Michigan, sitting at 24 points after sweeping North Dakota on the road, and Omaha, moving up to third place at 23 points following a road sweep of Miami.

ASU heads home to take on Colorado College at Mullett Arena on Jan. 24 and 25.