(Photo: Josh Eaton/WCSN)
TEMPE– After Arizona State killed one of four penalties Friday night, senior forward Cruz Lucius skated into the offensive zone with no defenders in sight. As he looked down at the goaltender, the stadium held its breath in anticipation. All season long, in this exact type of scenario, Lucius has thrived and even dominated opposing goalies.
This time, as the puck left his stick, instead of hitting the nylon, it hit the glass.
As Lucius scrambled to get the puck, it seemed like he was creating all by himself. He gathered the puck seconds later, with not much support, and fired once again wide of the mark.
Lucius’ missed opportunity defined much of ASU’s (11-11-1) performance, which couldn’t find ways to keep its winning tower upright in a 2-1 overtime loss to Miami (OH) (12-7-2). The Sun Devils failed to find any answers to break down the Miami goaltender, leading to their first home loss since November 21st against then-No. 3 Denver.
“We had our chances,” head coach Greg Powers said, “We feel like we control the game, possession, chances, everything. We just had a lid on the net. It wasn’t going our way offensively. Their goalie played really well. We missed out on a couple of breakaways, put it into a two-on-one. We hit a couple posts. It was just one of those games. We just couldn’t find a way to execute on offense, and the power play really struggled.”
Lucius has been a part of the top-scoring line in the country with a combined 89 points, with teammates sophomore forward Cullen Potter and senior forward Bennett Schimek. In recent weeks, as that line has looked like one of the best in the country, the Sun Devils have been a high-scoring offense, but more importantly, winning games.
For just the fifth time this season, Schimek, Potter, and Lucius failed to record a combined multi-point game. All five of those performances have one thing in common – ASU lost. When that top line isn’t going, the secondary scoring that Powers has asked for hasn’t been there, turning the Sun Devils into almost a one-dimensional team.
“I think our top line was a little off tonight,” Powers said, “They just didn’t execute at the level that we’ve seen them in the last month. Other guys have to step up. [Sam Court] stepped up, pounded one, and got a big goal to get it to overtime. But, the other forwards have to step up, and tonight they did not.”
The Sun Devils second line, with junior forwards Sean McGurn and Kyle Smolen, along with sophomore forward Ty Nash, provided a few scoring chances of their own, mainly due to Smolen’s net front presence. However, no matter how many half-chances were created, the second line, or any other forward line for that matter, couldn’t find a way to score.
“We just have to rely on the rest of our team,” sophomore defenseman Brasen Boser said, “[Lucius, Potter, and Schimek] are high point scorers, but you can’t win in college hockey if you have one line. Not that the other lines played badly, but we have to rely on four lines. If one line is not going, the other three need to step up.”
ASU was forced to rely on a defenseman who hadn’t scored all season to even get the game into overtime to avoid a regulation home loss that could be detrimental to its NCAA Tournament aspirations. While dominating the shot count with 38, many of ASU’s shots came from the perimeter, making it easier for sophomore goaltender Matteo Drobac to get into a rhythm, which allowed him to make 37 saves on the night.
“You just need to get some pucks and bodies to the net,” Powers said, “Just like the goal we scored on. We got a shot through, and Cruz did a great job getting to the front, and the goalie never saw it. That’s how you’re going to score against the hot goalies is make sure he doesn’t see it.”
The Sun Devil power play that has been so crucial in building the winning tower became a crucial reason for its instability. ASU’s power play went 0-for-5 on the night, putting in its worst performance since the Sun Devils started the season 2-for-18 on the man-advantage.
“Just execution,” Powers said of the power play struggles, “They were just sloppy, and they let one bad rep become five, and you can’t do that. You have to be mentally tougher than that.”
The lone bright spot, and the only reason that the tower is not completely knocked down for ASU, was its play defensively. The Sun Devils held the Redhawks to just 23 shots, killing off all four penalties called on them.
If ASU is to bounce back Saturday, it will need the same defensive effort, along with some scoring from more than just the top line. ASU will play game two against Miami at 5 PM MST on Saturday.
“I thought defensively we were good,” Powers said, “I thought our [defenseman] core was really good. They managed pucks for us. They got a bounce to go up one nothing, and I was proud of our guys for tying it up and finding a way to tie it up. We got a point tonight. That’s the way we have to look at it, and we have to come back tomorrow and hopefully get three.”
