ASU Hockey: Sun Devils and Penn State meet for second straight season

ASU hockey will host the 2017 Big Ten Champion Penn State Nittany Lions for a two-game series at Gila River Arena this weekend.

The series displays the two newest programs in NCAA Division I hockey. ASU (2-6-2) is in its second full season of D-I play while Penn State is amid its sixth.

Last year, both teams met for the first time ever as D-I programs when the Sun Devils traveled to Happy Valley. The trip out west for the Nittany Lions marks their first ever to Arizona State.

Then-No. 10 PSU got the best of ASU last season and swept the Sun Devils at home. The Nittany Lions put on a dominant offensive performance and won 7-4 and 8-0.

The Sun Devils will be looking for redemption in front of a home crowd at Gila River Arena, home of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes, in Glendale.

“Anytime we can play in a NHL venue is pretty cool, so we are really looking forward to it,” ASU captain Dylan Hollman said. “The fan support we have gotten so far this year has been excellent.”

The Nittany Lions, who started the season ranked No. 15, are now currently unranked. The team has struggled in the early part of this season and sit at 5-7-0, 2-4 in Big Ten play. In its last series, PSU was swept by now-No. 4 Notre Dame.

PSU leads the nation in shots this season with a whopping 903 attempts. That is 103 more than the second-best team in the category.

“They play a run-and-gun, completely offensive style of hockey where they throw everything at the net,” ASU coach Greg Powers said.

Penn State is loaded with five NHL draft picks on the team. However, the Nittany Lions are expected to be without last year’s team-leading scorer sophomore Denis Smirnov, who was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in the sixth round of the 2017 NHL Draft.

Smirnov recorded a hat trick in the first game of last year’s series against the Sun Devils. PSU defenseman Kevin Kerr is also unlikely to return to the lineup after suffering an undisclosed injury, according to head coach Guy Gadowski.

Junior forward Andrew Sturtz will carry the Nittany Lions as he leads the team in scoring with seven goals (ranks first in Big Ten) and seven assists in 11 games. Sturts had two goals and one assist in the first game of the series last year against ASU.

“If we establish the physical game, it’s going to back them off,” sophomore defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk said about PSU’s offensive attack. “They like to take a lot of shots so if we can disable them from getting those pucks on net and block shots, we are going to have success.”

The Sun Devils enter the series fresh after having last weekend off. The team looks to do things differently in its series versus PSU after a struggling start to the 2017-18 season

“For us, it’s just about getting our compete level back,” Hollman said. “We haven’t really been consistent in any game this year. We understand that Penn State has some talent. They have a pretty good, hard-working team, so for us to be successful, it’s going to come down to competing and outworking them.”

Defenseman Jakob Stridsberg leads the team in scoring with five goals and two assists through 10 games. Sophomore goaltender Joey Daccord has been strong between the pipes allowing 2.76 goals per game and holding a .919 save percentage which is tied for 20th-best in the nation.

Friday’s puck drop is set for 8 p.m. MT on Pac-12 Arizona and Saturday’s game begins at 7:05 p.m. MT streamed on the Arizona Live Stream.