Slow start buries ASU at No. 14 Providence

(Photo: Marina Williams/WCSN)

It may have only been a poorly played period, but one bad 20-minute stretch made the difference for ASU in their 4-1 loss at No. 14 Providence on Friday, which is also a microcosm of what their schedule entails.

ASU (1-3-1) experienced something similar last week in their 4-1 loss against No. 10 Michigan at home, but that time it was just a poorly-played five minutes to start the second period. The remainder of their schedule features 19 out of 29 games against ranked opponents, where a bad period or even a few minutes can change the whole complexion of the game.

This series against Providence (1-1) is also the first of three straight road series for ASU, who will not return to Mullett Arena until they face No. 12 Omaha on Nov. 15 and 16. The other two series on the road in the next month are at Northern Michigan and at No. 11 Colorado College.

All of these games require a full 60-minute effort to finish on top, which ASU has learned early on this season. In their series against Michigan, ASU matched Michigan’s pace of play for the majority of the series, but in the few moments they did not, they fell behind.

The same goes for the series opener at Providence. ASU looked disjointed in the opening frame and did not put a shot on goal until eight minutes in. Neither team managed to establish possession in the offensive zone in the first period, but ASU could not get any shots off or capitalize on its opportunities.

Providence, or sophomore forward Tanner Adams for that matter, made ASU pay for their slow start. Adams opened the scoring three and a half minutes into the period when he fired a one-timer from the right face off circle. The play developed after sophomore forward Hudson Malinoski won a puck battle along the boards, brought the puck in the corner below the goal line and fed Adams the one-time feed.

With seven minutes remaining in the opening period, Adams struck again after graduate defenseman Noah Beck misplayed a bouncing puck that was entering ASU’s zone, leaving Adams all alone to fire a wrist shot that junior goaltender Gibson Homer got a piece of with his left shoulder, but still found its way in the back of the net to make it 2-0 Providence. Adams later completed the hat trick late in the third period with ASU’s goaltender pulled and he flicked a back-hander into the empty net to seal the deal.

From the second period and on, ASU matched Providence’s play and even outplayed Providence for a few minutes at a time. Despite the better play in the second, Providence added onto the lead when graduate forward Logan Hill fired a spin-o-rama wrist shot that threaded the needle between Homer’s shoulder and the goal post to make it 3-0 Providence.

ASU kept up the pressure in the third and finally got rewarded with a goal when senior forward Ryan Kirwan poked in his own rebound past junior goaltender Philip Svedebäck to put ASU on the board. Despite allowing the late score, Svedebäck was solid all night for Providence, stopping 27 of 28 ASU shots on goal.

ASU wraps up its series against the Friars at 1 p.m. MST on Saturday.