In their first game back home after a six-game road trip, ASU hockey defeated Alabama-Huntsville 3-2 behind two goals from Jakob Stridsberg.
The Sun Devils (2-5-2) beat Alabama-Huntsville (1-6-0) 3-2 by dominating on special teams. The penalty kill for ASU killed off all six UAH power plays, including three in the second period.
The penalty kill did a fantastic job of staying in front of the puck and clearing whenever they had the chance. The overall effort of the ASU PK was outstanding, as they used physical play and blocked shots in order to stifle a speedy UAH team.
There were many times the PK would be able to find a streaking Anthony Croston on a short-handed breakaway. The chances, which seemed to come easier than the opponent’s power play, kept the visiting Chargers on their heels for the entirety of their man advantage opportunities.
Head coach Greg Powers had a lot of praise for the team’s penalty kill unit.
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“Our kill’s been really good…They were great tonight,” Powers said. “We really shut down their power play, and we needed to because we took too many penalties.”
Meanwhile, the home team’s power play also converted 1/3 power play opportunities. The game’s first goal came off of a Jakob Stridsberg one-timer on a 4-on-3 power play nearly eight minutes into the game.
Stridsberg’s contributions did not end there, as he tallied an even strength goal 5:40 into the second period. The goal came off of a rebound from a Brett Gruber shot, which was created after the center displayed some crafty stick handling to get to the net.
This game was one of Stridsberg’s better games because of his chemistry with the new half of his defensive pairing, Jacob Wilson. The team’s second defensive pairing pumped life into Arizona State’s play whenever they saw the ice, and should be something to watch out for in the near future.
When asked about his new pairing, Stridsberg said, “I like this pairing. I feel like it’s kind of easier to play with a right-handed defenseman, so it’s really easy to do everything with your strong hand.”
The Sun Devils were also fortunate enough to get another strong performance out of standout goalie Joey Daccord. After only seeing one shot in the first period, Daccord finished the night with 20 saves on 22 shots. Both goals came off of excellent scoring chances by the Chargers.
The first goal came from a Brennan Saulnier wraparound early in the second off of a Nicholas Gushue turnover behind the net. When asked about the goal, Daccord said, “It just kind of caught me off guard there. I thought we had it, and I just kind of took a quick second of a moment to relax there, and it just caught me by surprise.”
The turnover didn’t hurt the Devils too much, as the frequency of defensive zone turnovers lowered as the game progressed. Puck possession, however, could hurt ASU in the second game of the series.
Next: ASU Hockey: Sun Devils end road trip with 1-1 tie versus Colgate
The series continues with the second, and final, game Saturday night when the Sun Devils look for the program’s first ever home sweep. Puck drop is at 7:05 p.m. PT and can be seen on the ASU Live Stream.