TEMPE, Ariz. – On Friday, the Sun Devils were beaten by Denver in every facet of the game, losing by seven, with one of the worst showings on the scoreboard in recent history. The Sun Devils needed a great performance to flush Friday’s result away.
Arizona State hockey (5-8-1, 3-4-1 NCHC) flipped the script on No. 3 Denver (9-4-1, 5-1 NCHC), winning 3-2 on an overtime goal from sophomore forward Cullen Potter, his third goal of the season with 22.3 seconds left in the period. The overtime win gets Arizona State two points, putting it at fifth in the conference.
“I’m really, really proud of our guys, the response was really good,” Arizona State head coach Greg Powers said. “Tonight was our best 60-minute effort of the season.”
Denver had the momentum heading into overtime as junior forward Sam Harris scored two Pioneers goals, bringing Denver from down 2-0 to a 2-2 tie.
Senior goaltender Connor Hasley had a standout performance in net, stopping 42 shots, including 19 in the second period. His five saves in overtime were huge.
“He was great,” Powers said. “He made those two huge saves in overtime.”
Halsey is now 3-4 on the season. He has a .909 save percentage and a 3.13 goals against average. His performance is a nice bounce-back from allowing three goals on 13 shots in 32 minutes and change on Friday.
The Sun Devils had two goals in the first period, with the first from freshman forward Carmelo Crandell, his second on the year, and the second from freshman forward Jack Beck. Beck’s goal game on the power play, and it was his fourth of the season.
The power play was excellent, going one for two on the night. The unit went two of four on the weekend, bumping up the unit to 16-for-63 (25.4%) on the season.
The penalty kill was just as good, shutting down Denver’s four chances, which included a period of 5-on-3 hockey. That unit has killed 46-of-56 (82.1%) of opponents' power plays on the season.
“The kill was as good as it gets,” Powers said. “You need your goalie to be your best penalty killer, and he was.”
Junior forward Kyle Smolen collected assists on all three goals on the night. All three assists came in three different situations.
Smolen has been a Swiss Army Knife for the Sun Devils this season as he has played center, left wing and right wing. He has played in the second, third and fourth lines as well. He played fourth-line center in the game, with Crandell and freshman forward Ben Kevan as his linemates.
“I’ll play anywhere,” Smolen said. “I’ll play with anyone and try to make every line as good as I can, I think it’s my job as that older guy on that line to help lift those guys up.”
Kevan, Beck and senior forward Cruz Lucius had an assist each on the night. That was the first NCAA assist for the New Jersey Devils draft pick.
Arizona State had 23 blocks in the game, the second most on its year.
“Blocked shots are not a request, it's a requirement,” Smolen said. “When you don’t get that done, you have to look yourself in the mirror and be like, did I really want to block that shot?”
The Sun Devils went 25-for-50 on face-offs. Sophomore forward Logan Morrell went 11-for-16. He now sits at 56.9% on the year.
Junior center Sean McGurn went 5-for-8 in the face-off circle. McGurn is a step behind Morrell at 56.5%. Potter and Smolen went less than 50% on puck drops on the night, and Potter has struggled there, sitting at 44.3.% on the year.
The Sun Devils emphasized outscoring Denver in the first and last two minutes of every period. They did that, outsourcing them 1-0 with the overtime goal being that difference maker.
“Last night, that was where we lost the game,” Powers said. “Tonight we did a really good job.”
This is the third consecutive win (including the shootout win against Colorado College) where the Sun Devils were outshot and won. They were outshot 44-27 in the win.
Powers made a major shakeup with the lineup, swapping in senior defenseman Tucker Ness, freshman defenseman Austin Zemlak, senior forward Johnny Waldron and Kevan into the lineup. Freshman defenseman Justin Kipkie, sophomore defenseman Sam Court, sophomore forward Ty Nash and freshman forward Braxton Whitehead were scratched. The changes worked.
“Tucker (Ness) and Zemlak had to watch a lot of hockey, and we thought they could give us a spark, and they did,” Powers said.
The Sun Devils face Ohio State at home next week and try to get consecutive wins for the first time since the Ice Breaker Tournament in October. With Friday’s result flushed, the Sun Devils have a good chance of stacking wins, which is what they did last year after the first Denver series, winning five (and two exhibitions) after sweeping Denver.
“But now, how can we take that (win) and move forward and not go back down?” Smolen said. “I think that’s the most important thing.”