Arizona State hosts Omaha in regular season home finale

Well, it’s only fitting that the home finale for Arizona State hockey features a matchup with an opponent that they will get to know very well in the coming seasons.

When St. Thomas joins the NCHC for the 2026-27 season, the Sun Devils (13-18-1, 6-13-1 NCHC) and Omaha (10-20-0, 6-14-0) will play two series annually, including the final series of each season until otherwise changed by the conference. But before then, a much more critical matchup looms for both sides.

When Arizona State became the “9th star” of the NCHC last season, initial plans called for a play-in game between the 8th and 9th place teams, before being abandoned in favor of the current 8 team format. This weekend’s series will be an unintended play-in series with Arizona State in 8th place, standing just one point ahead of Omaha in 9th.

Omaha has been snake bitten this season by an inability to score goals, averaging an NCHC-worst 2.57 goals per game. Compounding that issue, the Mavericks are second-worst in the NCHC with a 3.47 goals against average, outdone by only Arizona State at 3.63 goals against per game. There are some pearls to be found however, with 11 players recording 10+ points this season to balance out the attack. Trevor Wong (5 goals, 12 assists) and Luke Woodworth (4 G-13 A) lead the Mavericks with 17 points each, with Maxime Pellerin and Marcus Nguyen tied for the team lead with 8 goals each.

Omaha brings one of the more offensive-minded defensive units that the Sun Devils have faced, relying on their blue liners for high shot volume and special teams play. 37% of the Mavericks power play scoring (7 of 19 goals) this season has come from the defense, led by sophomore Marc Lajoie (4 PPG of 6 total goals. Junior Aidan de La Gorgendiere paces the Mavericks in shots on goal with 65, but his defensive play has suffered as a result, entering this series with a -10 rating. Conversely, senior co-captain Griffin Ludtke has been an excellent play-setter, leading the defense with 14 points, with freshman Spencer Sova enjoying a breakout season with 2 G-7 A-9 P.

Senior goaltender Simon Latkoczy has been one of the stronger goaltenders in the NCHC in seasons past, but injuries have kept him off his top form this season. Missing 12 games due to injury, he enters this weekend with a 6-12-0 record, 3.13 goals against average and .905 save percentage. Freshman Dawson Cowan has held serve when pressed into service, carrying a 3.21 GAA and .901 SV% to go with his 4-8-0 record.

As mentioned earlier, this weekend’s series presents a play-in of sorts for the NCHC tournament. Expect nothing short of a playoff-like atmosphere on the ice as both teams will be desperately looking to end the weekend out of the cellar. If the Sun Devils can pull off the weekend sweep, that would secure 8th place at worst in the NCHC tournament.

The strain of missing Cullen Potter is becoming apparent, with the current top line of Cruz Lucius, Bennett Schimek, and Sean McGurn, plus occasional top centerman Kyle Smolen bearing the most pressure. The first 4 games after Potter went down for the season looked like business as usual, with those 4 combining for 2 G-14 A-16 P. However the last 4 games have seen a team-wide scoring skid. Schimek and Lucius enter this series scoreless in the last 4 and 5 games respectively, with Smolen and McGurn combining for 3 G-1 A-4 P in that stretch. As a team, the Sun Devils are 1-7-0 since Potter’s injury, averaging 2.75 goals per game. When narrowed down to the current 5 game losing streak, Arizona State has scuffled to a dismal 1.8 goals per game.

Don’t miss out on the last home action of the season. Tickets remain available for Friday’s 7pm puck drop as well as Saturday’s 5pm matinee. If you can’t be in the arena, both games will stream nationally on NCHC.tv (subscription required). Saturday’s home finale will also air in the Phoenix market on Fox 10 Xtra. For the radio inclined fans, Tyler Paley and Alex Coil will have the call on Fox Sports 910 Phoenix, available on the iHeartRadio app.