ASU Hockey: Sun Devils blanked by Colgate in series opener

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 11: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky the Sun Devil stands on the court during a first-round game of the Pac-12 Basketball Tournament against the USC Trojans at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 11, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. USC won 67-64. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 11: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky the Sun Devil stands on the court during a first-round game of the Pac-12 Basketball Tournament against the USC Trojans at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 11, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. USC won 67-64. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

ASU hockey (1-5-1) were shutout by the Colgate Raiders Friday in Hamilton, New York. Multiple miscues and an unresponsive ASU power play unit led to a 3-0 Colgate victory.

ASU hockey was coming off of a shootout win over Nebraska-Omaha, which was recorded as a tie. Despite not being able to add another tally to the win column, the Sun Devils seemed energized throughout the week.

However, the Raiders (3-2-2) controlled most of the tempo throughout the course of Friday’s game.

Sixteen minutes into the game, Tyler Jeanson scored his second goal of the season in a Raiders-dominated first period, which gave Colgate a 1-0 lead.

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Jeanson flicked the puck off the end board and it redirected into the ASU net. This strange goal would prove to be detrimental to the Sun Devils as it seemed to set the course for the rest of the game.

Bobby McCann and Evan Peterson added second and third period goals respectively for Colgate.

Before Friday’s game, special teams were a point of interest in this series. Both Colgate and ASU had struggled on the powerplay and were moderately successful on the penalty kill.

On Friday, ASU conceded 12 penalty minutes during the contest, an aspect of their game that they’ve been trying to improve on.

ASU head coach Greg Powers said that the Sun Devils need to step up their game. “ are taking penalties in situations they simply can’t if we want to find success,” he added.

Despite the penalties, the Sun Devil penalty kill was impressive once again. Colgate was 1-6 on the power play on Friday.

The Sun Devils had less than 10 shots in all three periods. Additionally, they were 0-5 on the powerplay.

The top forward line had played very well in their first two weekends of the season, but were extremely silent against Colgate.

“Bottom line is our guys just weren’t ready to play tonight,” Powers said. “Travel can’t be an excuse and our leaders have to step up and execute.”

Next: ASU Hockey: Forming Stronger Bonds on the Road

ASU split the 2016-17 season series with Colgate and will look for a similar outcome this year. The Sun Devils battle the Raiders again on Saturday at 1 p.m.