ASU hockey (2-6-2) fell to the Penn State Nittany Lions (6-7-0) by a score of 7-0 on Friday night at Gila River Arena in Glendale.
ASU hockey conceded nine first period goals in last season’s two game series against Penn State, but that wasn’t the case Friday night. However, despite playing a good first period, ASU allowed 7 goals between the second and third periods.
“Every facet minus goaltending was really bad,” said ASU head coach Greg Powers.
Despite allowing seven goals in two periods, Joey Daccord’s goaltending wasn’t the problem. The sophomore goalie made 42 saves on 49 shots, five saves less than his season-high of 47.
“That certainly wasn’t on him tonight,” Powers said of Daccord’s performance. “He was sharp, he was good, and his team completely left him out to dry.”
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Daccord made several fabulous saves during the game, including an outstanding glove save to rob Penn State’s Alex Limoges of a goal early in the second period. Limoges picked up a loose puck off of a shot deflection and tried to deke past Daccord, but was unsuccessful as the ASU goaltender snagged Limoges’ backhanded shot with his glove.
Limoges was robbed of three potentially goals, which included two nice saves by Daccord, and a tripping penalty by an ASU defender.
“I thought there were some really opportunities that we passed up,” Powers said.
One particular scoring chance stands out. ASU almost tied the game immediately after Penn State took the lead in the second period. The puck found its way through several Nittany Lions defenders right onto the tape of Dylan Hollman’s stick. The ASU captain tried to maneuver the puck around the Penn State goaltender, but mishandled it and it rolled wide of the net.
Despite playing well through about 30 minutes of Friday’s game, the Sun Devils were heavily outplayed by Penn State. The Nittany Lions outshot ASU 49-15 and even had less penalty minutes.
The Sun Devils struggled to generate scoring chances throughout the entirety of the game. Furthermore, they failed to succeed on special teams, allowing multiple powerplay goals and scoring none of their own.
ASU has consistently struggled on the powerplay this season, but heavily pressured the Penn State penalty killers on one opportunity in the second period. Nevertheless, the Devils still came up empty.
Penn State scored twice in the second period. Evan Barratt scored both goals for the Lions on the powerplay. They were the first two goals of his collegiate career.
ASU then proceeded to concede five third period goals, ultimately falling to the Nittany Lions 7-0. It was ASU’s second shutout loss of the season.
“At the end of the day, our guys just could not execute,” Powers said.
Next: ASU Hockey: Sun Devils lose 3-1, split series with Alabama-Huntsville
The Sun Devils will face off with the Nittany Lions again at 7 p.m. MT Saturday night in Glendale with the game streamed on the Arizona Live Stream.