Reeling Sun Devils hit the road to take on surging Western Michigan

Stop me if you've heard this one before: Standings points are critical for Sun Devil hockey this weekend.

It's become a broken record as of late, but after a gut-wrenching sweep at the hands of St. Cloud State last weekend at Mullett Arena, Arizona State (13-16-1, 6-11-1 NCHC) finds themselves barely holding on to the 8th and final spot in the NCHC tournament, just one point ahead of next weekend's opponent Omaha.

Before we can even think about next weekend's home finale, the Sun Devils face a tall task against defending NCHC and national champion Western Michigan (20-8-0, 12-6-0 NCHC). The Broncos stumbled to start their Penrose Cup defense with a 1-3 record in conference play. However, the Broncos have played to an incredible 15-3-0 record since November 14th, including a 10-game winning streak that saw the Broncos clinch the championship in the Kwik Trip Holiday Classic in Milwaukee.

Sophomore goaltender Hampton Slukynsky has been the MVP for the Broncos this season. After splitting the net last season with Cameron Rowe, he assumed the mantle of top goaltender and has not given head coach Pat Ferschweiler any reason to turn elsewhere. While his numbers aren't quite as dominant as in his breakout freshman campaign, the 4th round (2023) draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings was named to the Mike Richter Award watch list for a second straight season, ranking 4th in the NCHC with a 2.40 goals against average and 7th with a .910 saves percentage.

Hampton isn't the only Slukynsky excelling in Kalamazoo. His older brother Grant leads the Broncos in scoring with 30 points (6 goals and 24 assists). Junior William Whitelaw and senior Liam Valente share the goal-scoring lead with 16 apiece, and transfer from Colorado College Zaccharya Wisdom adds a line of 12 G-8 A-20 P, giving the Broncos four skaters with at least 20 points this season. It's the depth scoring for the Broncos that really stands out; a further eight skaters have registered at least 10 points this season, allowing Coach Ferschweiler to roll three strong lines that are more than capable of finding the back of the net on any shift. Freshman Bobby Cowan is a young talent to keep an eye on. The third member of his family to play NCAA hockey (father for Providence, uncle for Minnesota-Duluth), he has lived up to the family business with 5 G-13 A-18 P in his debut season.

Defensively, the Broncos feature a dynamic top four with different emphases. The top pairing of Samuel Sjölund and Joona Väisänen are the "shutdown pair", leading the Broncos penalty kill that ranks 13th in the nation at 84.1%. Sjölund's 19 points (5 G-14 A) leads all Broncos defensemen in scoring. The next pairing features a grinding flair from Zach Bookman and Theo Wallberg. A two-time Hobey Baker nominee while at Merrimack, Bookman has the ability to act as a 4th forward to jump up into the play in the offensive zone. His 2 G-7 A-9 P line is a step back from what he produced at Merrimack, but remains a threat to watch. Wallberg presents an imposing force on the blue line, standing at 6'5". A magnet for pucks, he registered more than 70 blocks in his first two collegiate seasons, while also using his reach to disrupt opposing offenses.

Net front play at both ends of the ice will be the key for Arizona State to have any hope of picking up points this weekend. Too many lapses in defensive coverage have created easy scoring opportunities for Arizona State's opponents. Conversely, while the Sun Devils saw success in scoring with traffic in front of Patriks Berzins last weekend, the play has been focused on perimeter play and low percentage shots far too often. Cullen Potter's absence has created a void on the top line, and Cruz Lucius has found himself in a three-game pointless streak, though still holding a tie for the team lead with Bennett Schimek at 38 points. The impressive surge from freshman Sam Alfano continued last weekend with the only goal in Friday's 3-1 loss to St. Cloud State. Logan Morrell has been a machine at the face-off dot, winning 58.2% of his attempts (5th in NCHC).

The Lawson Lunatics will make their voices heard all weekend long, but if the Sun Devils can dig deep and create a physical edge in front of Slukynsky, they can put up a challenge for the Broncos. Both games will stream nationally on NCHC.tv (subscription required), Friday being a 5pm Arizona time puck drop and Saturday an hour earlier at 4pm. Tyler Paley and Alex Coil will have the call on the radio on Fox Sports 910 Phoenix, available on the iHeart Radio app.