Sun Devil hockey continues losing ways

Arizona State arrived in Kalamazoo ahead of Friday's game looking to take a raucus atmosphere and channel it into desperation to save their season.

Instead, the defending national champions showed exactly why they are one of the top teams in the nation, leaving the Sun Devils floundering with few answers as the games tick off the calendar.

The most concerning part of the game wasn't the 4-goal margin of defeat, it was how completely overwhelmed the team was up and down the ice.

Western Michigan set the tone early and often with three goals in the first 12:39 of the game from Ty Henricks, Garrett Szydlowski, and Liam Valente. Arizona State meanwhile could not muster a shot on goal until 4 minutes in to the game, and Connor Hasley weathered the storm of a 23 shot first period in encouraging form after that wild opening.

Kyle Smolen got the Devils on the board late in the first period, and some flashes of scrappy play to disrupt goaltender Hampton Slukynsky showed some promise at the first intermission. That play continued as Smolen found the back of the net once again at the 2:02 mark of the second period, and it looked like the Devils were one match strike away from cooking with gas.

That would be the end of the good vibes for Arizona State, as the Broncos finished out with three unanswered goals from Alex Calbeck, Owen Michaels (EN), and Zaccharya Wisdom to take the opening game of the weekend series.

With 5 games left in the regular season, the question is rapidly becoming "Will the Sun Devils make the NCHC tournament?" Fortunately, Arizona State sits in the 8th and final tournament position, staying a point ahead of their upcoming opponent in the Omaha Mavericks. Omaha's game is still in progress at the time of this writing, with the Sun Devils needing a regulation loss by the Mavericks to stay in 8th place.

After the 23 shot first period, the Sun Devils were able to keep shots against Hasley in better control, but topped out at 9 shots in each period to lose the shot battle 46-27. The Broncos dominated in the face-off circle by a 40-25 margin, led by Owen Michaels and Grant Slukynsky who combined to win 28 of the 39 face-offs they took. Logan Morrell, who has become the most consistent presence in the circle for the Sun Devils, had the best performance of the night winning 10 of his 26 draws.

Losing the special teams battle didn't help matters for Arizona State, allowing the Broncos to convert 2 of their 4 power play opportunities while going 0-for-3 themselves.

4 goals has been the magic number this season for Western Michigan as the Broncos are now a perfect 18-0-0 when scoring 4+ goals.

Smolen's two goals gave him his 5th multi-point game of the season, a bright spot in an otherwise dim performance for the team. Ben Kevan and Carmelo Crandell each contributed assists on both of Smolen's goals for multi-point nights themselves.

Arizona State will look to avoid the sweep tomorrow night, puck drop will be at 4pm Arizona time from Lawson Ice Arena. The game will stream nationally on NCHC.tv (subscription required), with Tyler Paley and Alex Coil bringing you the call on Fox Sports 910 Phoenix, available on the iHeart Radio app.