Elimination looms as Arizona State drops weekend opener

Entering Friday night, Arizona State had control of their own destiny, clinging to a slim chance to make the NCHC tournament as the No. 8 seed. That control was taken away, leaving the Sun Devils in a do-or-die situation in the final game of the regular season.

For the 4th straight game, the Sun Devils got on the scoreboard first. Sam Alfano took an excellent no-look pass from Noah Powell and fired it past goaltender Johnny Hicks at the 6:37 mark of the first period for the 1-0 lead, Logan Morrell credited with the secondary assist. The Sun Devils would hold that lead through the first intermission and for the first half of the second period, before Samu Salminen tied it up at 12:30 of the period. The top line magic would strike again however, with Bennett Schimek scoring his 13th goal of the season from Cruz Lucius and Sean McGurn just over 90 seconds later.

From that point on, it became the Pioneer Show. Sam Harris scored twice in 2:05 at the end of the second period, one on the power play and one even strength, giving Denver the 3-2 lead after 40 minutes. James Reeder made it a two goal margin just over 5 minutes into the third, and Salminen added an empty net goal with 1:17 remaining to secure the 5-2 (EN) win.

The opening 20 minutes was some of the better hockey the Sun Devils have played this season, outshooting the Pioneers 11-3 and avoiding the penalty box. For the game, the Devils did a good job at staying out of the penalty box; Braxton Whitehead taking the only penalty of the game for slashing. That one penalty was all the window that this Denver team needed, and turned the game fully in the Pioneers' favor.

Time and time again this season, defensive lapses have been the undoing for Arizona State, and the second goal for Sam Harris was a textbook example as he was able to float in to the slot unaccounted for and put up what would be the game winning goal.

Coach Powers and the rest of the team may not have been scoreboard watching tonight, but an equally important series started in Omaha, which saw the Mavericks take down Miami 5-3. Arizona State's regulation loss coupled with this win has slid the Sun Devils back into 9th place in the conference, needing a regulation win and a Mavericks regulation loss to advance to the postseason.

Everything is on the line tomorrow night. Puck drop will be at 6pm from Magness Arena, with the game streaming nationally on NCHC.tv (subscription required). Tyler Paley and Steve Peters will have the call on the radio on Fox Sports 910 Phoenix.