ASU Hockey: Slow start leads to 5-3 loss for the Sun Devils

ASU hockey dropped the second game of its series with Quinnipiac in a 5-3 loss Saturday night as the Sun Devils couldn’t dig out of a 4-1 hole.

A slow start doomed the Sun Devils (7-14-5), as the Bobcats (9-12-4) took full advantage of their opponent’s mistakes.

Quinnipiac won the game through a potent power play unit, which nationally was a bottom 20 unit coming into the game.

The Bobcats received their first opportunity on the power play after a Tyler Busch tripping call. The team’s leading goal scorer, winger Alex Whelan, found twine with about 30 seconds left in the power play.

Arizona State’s only penalty kill of the night came after another Busch penalty, this time for slashing, about midway through the first period.

When asked about the lone penalty kill, Arizona State head coach Greg Powers said, “The one we got the stop on was maybe one of our worst ones…that was the one where we couldn’t get the puck out. They had almost two minutes of zone time.”

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In total, the Bobcats scored on three out of four power plays, while the Sun Devils scored on one of their four chances.

The Sun Devils’ penalty kill was underperforming all night, which Powers attributed to a lack of intensity in the penalty kill unit.

One player who seems to never lack intensity is ASU forward Dominic Garcia. The freshman scored his first collegiate goal in a bizarre ending to the second period.

When asked about the goal, Garcia said, “It felt good. It was a little short-lived since they scored probably 25 seconds after.”

Garcia’s comment was not an exaggeration. In fact, the next goal came eight seconds later when Quinnipiac winger Bo Pieper scored his eight of the year and second of the game.

A goal from the Bobcats’ captain, Chase Priskie, 29 seconds before Garcia’s goal made it three goals in a 37-second span in the final stages of the second period.

After the rough ending to the second period, Powers opted to start the third period with junior Ryland Pashovitz in net.

The goalie change came as a surprise to some because Daccord has carried the team in many games this season.

When asked about the change, Powers said, “Dacs didn’t have the sharpest period there in the second, and he’s going to have to be big for us against BU. So, I wanted to get Pash in and see if it would change the energy on the bench a little bit and it did.”

Powers’ decision was correct, as Pashovitz only saw two shots on goal in the third period. In comparison, Daccord faced 35 shots in the first two periods.

On the other side of the ice, the offense fired 11 shots on net, nearly matching their 12 shots on goal in the first two periods.

Next: ASU Hockey: Devils tie Bobcats, Louie Rowe wins it in double OT

The Sun Devils will hope that Daccord is back to his usual self and the offense is aggressive for next weekend’s series with Boston University, which is a hockey powerhouse.

All quotes in this article were obtained firsthand by Devils in Detail unless otherwise noted.