ASU hockey faces Minnesota in its final season of the regular season as the Sun Devils make their final case to the selection committee.
The 2018-19 Sun Devil Hockey team will finish the regular season Friday and Saturday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci against the University of Minnesota.
The Golden Gophers have yet to find consistency this season, with two separate three-game winning streaks and a sweep of No. 7 Ohio State highlighting a less than ideal 14-15-4 season.
For the Gophers, this series will be their last chance to gain some confidence heading into the Big Ten tournament.
They are 11-10-3 in conference play, with sweeps of No. 17 Notre Dame and No. 7 Ohio State. The team is just as good at home as they are on the road, with an 8-8-2 home record and 6-6-2 road record, although both of the sweeps in conference play came on the road.
The Gophers spent part of the season with two freshmen playing in the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships for their countries: Sammy Walker for the U.S. and Finland’s Sampo Ranta.
In the 31 games Ranta has played for the Gophers, he has scored four goals and added eight assists, including the first goal of the season for the Gophers. Walker, meanwhile, has totaled 22 points in 32 games.
Despite the two freshmen playing well, the most important player offensively for the Gophers has been junior Rem Pitlick. A third round pick by the Nashville Predators in the 2016 NHL Draft, Pitlick is the ninth highest scorer in the NCAA this season, with 38 points in 33 games.
In net, junior Matt Robson is 11-11-4 in his 27 starts, with a .918 save percentage and a 3.01 goals allowed average.
For the Sun Devils, this series is their final chance to move up in the all-important Pairwise rankings.
Currently, Arizona State sits in eighth place, sandwiched between Ohio State and Providence. With a single win, the Devils could finish anywhere between seventh and 11th in the Pairwise standings, depending on how the conference tournaments play out.
If Sun Devil Hockey sweeps the Gophers and everything else goes right, the Devils could potentially climb into the top 5, but two wins will more than likely secure they do not fall below their current spot.
Getting swept will not completely ruin the team’s chances of making the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history, but it would make the waiting game during conference tournaments much more stressful for Powers and the team.
Hobey Baker Award nominee and hometown hero Johnny Walker leads the nation in goals with 23, and while the next closest player is multiple goals behind him with 20, look for Walker to do everything he can to add to his total before the regular season ends.
Joey Daccord, ASU’s other Hobey Baker nominee, will protect the crease for the maroon and gold as he goes for his NCAA-leading 22nd and 23rd wins on the season.
The Sun Devils have made history all season long, and there is no reason to expect any less this weekend, as they make one final push for the NCAA tournament.