No. 19 Sun Devils keep rolling with 5-3 win over Minnesota-Duluth

(Photo: Jordan Talley/WCSN)

TEMPE, Ariz. – Up via a 4-1 margin in the third period, it looked as if Arizona State was going to skate away easily from the University of Minnesota Duluth, but then it all changed.

They say a lot can change in a short amount of time, and for Sun Devil hockey, it almost did. They went from enjoying a comfortable three-goal lead to suddenly having to find their footing again after the Bulldogs scored twice in the span of just over a minute. The game suddenly turned from a walk-away win to a nail-biter that went down to the wire, with ASU escaping 5-3 thanks to an empty-net goal from freshman defenseman Sam Court. 

The Sun Devils (7-7, 4-3-0) walked away from a close one with a victory over the Bulldogs (5-9-0, 2-5-0), in game one.

It was a span of about five minutes, all before the ten-minute mark, that changed the completion of the third period. First junior forward Ryan Alexander scored 4:06 into the third period to put ASU up by two goals, 3-1. Then, a little over a minute later, at 5:57, graduate forward Dylan Jackson found the back of the net thanks to a pass from his brother — 4-1 ASU. But then it all changed: freshman forward Max Plante brought life back to the UMD bench at the 7:58 mark. Plante beats the Sun Devil defense just enough to get a half stride ahead and beats Pavicich glove side. A minute and one second later, at 8:59 into the third period, senior forward and captain Dominic James got his second of the night to make it a 4-3 hockey game.

“They’re a good team,” head coach Greg Powers said. “They didn’t go away; they’re not going to quit. We mismanaged the puck there on their second goal (….) we let off the gas there for five minutes, and they almost made us pay. It’s a good lesson. It’s always better to learn lessons when you win.”

From that point on, the energy seemed to shift. UMD grew the advantage, and the Sun Devils were back on their heels. In the end, though, it didn’t matter, as Court, with under 10 seconds left in the game, from the far corner of the rink, threw the puck a whole 200 feet into the back of an empty net to secure the 5-4 victory.

“Probably not how he envisioned it, but [Court] really coming along for us,” Powers said. “I thought he and [Beck] tonight struggled for the first half of the game, breaking pucks out, and they weren’t quite themselves, but it was nice to see him settle in and really play like themselves in the back half and they’re a big reason why we won.”

After having the week of Thanksgiving off and coming back home after sweeping then No. 1 Denver, it was going to be interesting to see how the Sun Devils game looked. Despite getting outshot 11-9 in the first period, the Sun Devils lit the lamp first and in a unique way. With their first power play chance of the night, ASU looked poised to take the goose egg off the board, and they did just that. The Jackson brothers found each other for the tally, but it took them two tries to make it stick. Mere seconds before the official goal, Dylan Jackson scored thanks to a pass from his brother Ty Jackson. 

However, UMD quickly challenged, and the goal was overturned — the Sun Devils were offside entering the zone. Shortly after, and as power play time ticked away, the Jacksons connected again, but this time Dylan Jackson found his graduate forward and brother Ty Jackson for the goal. 

“I just saw him coming in with speed,” Dylan Jackson said. “It was just the typical breakout on the power play, and you try to stay connected there, and it kind of just bounced around a little bit, [and] ended up on his tape. So just worked out well.”

Not even a minute into the second period, the Bulldogs tied the game up 1-1. James put Duluth on the board after firing a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle that seemed to just sneak through the pads of senior goaltender Luke Pavicich. But the Sun Devils answered back, and it was 17-year-old freshman forward Cullen Potter with a quick release to beat freshman goaltender Klayton Knapp, who was making his first collegiate start. Potter has three points in his last three games — a goal and assists on the road against Denver and now a goal in game one. ASU was up 2-1 to end the second period.

Then the third period happened.

The Sun Devils have built themselves a four-game winning streak, starting with the win against the University of Nebraska Omaha in game two and followed up by the sweep over Denver. One consistent factor in all four of those games has been Pavicich. After dropping the first game against the Mavericks, Pavicich has been lights-out for the Sun Devils, standing tall in net when he has been asked.

“He was our best player,” Powers said. “I thought he was the reason we won, and I thought he was the best player on the ice, and I think if he’s not in net for us, we probably don’t come out of here with a win. He was, he was phenomenal.”

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