ASU Hockey: Sun Devils sweep Alabama-Huntsville

ASU hockey completed their first road sweep since Dec. 2016 as they swept Alabama-Huntsville winning Friday 2-1 and 5-1 Saturday.

Following a tightly contested sweep at the hands of the nation’s No. 1 team, Ohio State, the Arizona State Sun Devils were looking to get their season back on the winning track.

The team travelled to Alabama-Huntsville for their first road trip of the season and were looking to continue their strong play they have displayed in each of their first four games of the season. And, they did just that.

The Sun Devils displayed their depth this weekend as each of the four lines found the back of the net at least once.

This depth has been a focal point for the Sun Devils this season, something they have never had in years prior. It has been imperative to their early success and ability to compete with a powerhouse like OSU.

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Another key to this Sun Devils team? Early pressure. They were able to do exactly that by controlling the puck early on with an abundance of scoring chances that led to them drawing a penalty.

Johnny Walker and Tyler Busch were able to connect on that power play to open the scoring for the Sun Devils Friday. Brett Gruber would follow in the second period with his first of the season to give ASU much needed insurance that would stand as the game winning goal.

Despite the close game, the Sun Devils dominated UAH winning 2-1 Friday. They had a plethora of scoring chances and dominated in possession, however had trouble finishing off their chances.

These are the games where it’s important for goalie Joey Daccord to rise to the occasion and help his team grab a win when they are struggling to put the puck in.

Head coach Greg Powers spoke of his netminder’s play as “a good solid performance.”

Continuing with the theme of defense, ASU was able to kill off yet another penalty, raising their streak to 14 straight penalties killed off.

This is a very impressive statistic and is one of the strongest parts of the Sun Devils game right now, but if they hope to have any sort of success against the tougher opponents, Arizona State will have to manage the amount of penalties they take.

Moving towards the second game of the series on Saturday night, Powers told the media “we have to outwork them, I can’t say we did that tonight (Friday)”. ASU rose to the occasion and responded well to their coache’s postgame comments, beating UAH 5-1 on Saturday night.

It was a flurry of firsts in the second game of the series. Austin Lemieux and Jarrod Gourley both got their first NCAA goals, as well as Gvido Janson’s and Filips Buncis notching their first NCAA assists.

Not to mention, the team nabbed their first road sweep since December 2016. Game 2 was a much more dominant performance where everything seemed to click for the Sun Devils and once again, that depth was on display.

The ability for Powers to feel comfortable to send any of his forward lines out in any situation is a luxury he has never had the privilege of having.

“I thought there was good flow out there tonight, I was comfortable with throwing everybody out,” Power said.

However, ASU took another five penalties Saturday, although they were able to kill them off as Powers said “we can’t continue to depend on these guys.”

The Arizona State Sun Devils now improve to 4-2-0 on the season, putting them at half as many wins as they had just one season ago.

ASU will now head back to Tempe and prepare for a home series against Nebraska-Omaha, which Powers described as “a big weekend”.

ASU Hockey: Joey Daccord holding his own in net. dark. Next

If this Sun Devils team wants to prove their worth and capability of beating teams that have a more competitive reputation and continue to improve and build their program, it will have to start with a win against UNO at Oceanside Arena next weekend.

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