Sun Devils snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in weekend sweep by St. Cloud

When it rains it pours, and conditions inside Mullett Arena were a torrential downpour on Saturday night.

On a weekend where points in the standings were of the utmost importance, Arizona State came out on the wrong end of a 4-3 final, dropping both games to St. Cloud State and extending their losing streak to three games. Since clinching the Desert Hockey Classic championship on January 3rd, the Sun Devils are 2-6-0 in NCHC play, gaining 6 of a possible 24 points in that stretch.

Samuel Urban got the start for the third straight game and made a yeoman's effort to keep the Sun Devils in the game, stopping 28 of 32 shots faced and 58 of 64 over the weekend. Bad breaks and stronger work from their opponent told the story in Saturday's season-defining loss.

Arizona State got off to the right start, taking the early lead on Sean McGurn's 4th goal of the season, the first time the Sun Devils have scored the first goal of the game since January 30th in the 6-5 overtime win over Colorado College. Max Smolinski tied the game up for the Huskies just over the midway mark of the 1st, and Tyson Gross gave the Huskies the lead in the 2nd, taking the 2-1 lead into the second intermission break.

Noah Powell opened the scoring in the third period with his second goal in as many games, paving the way for both teams to trade punches over the final 20 minutes. Noah Urness put the Huskies back on top at the 5 minute mark of the 3rd following a failed clearing attempt by Urban when his stick broke. Arizona State would challenge the play for a kicked puck but the goal stood. Not all hope was lost, however. Carmelo Crandell continued his strong second half of the season and tied the game with just under 4 minutes remaining, injecting life back in to the crowd at Mullett Arena.

Urness took a hooking penalty with under 1:27 to play in regulation, seemingly setting the Sun Devils up for a point in overtime at worst. Nothing in sports can ever be guaranteed, and the final 87 seconds of regulation was no exception.

Looking to get his team jumped back into the play for a chance at a game winning goal, Urban came out of the net to make an aggressive play after St. Cloud cleared the puck out of their zone. It's a play that works 99 times out of 100, but Tyson Gross read the play perfectly to ensure that this was the one time it did not. Intercepting the clearing attempt at the blue line and with Urban way out of position, Gross got Urban off-balance in the face-off circle for a clear shot at the wide open net. Bennett Schimek gave it his best effort to disrupt the shot but to no avail as the shorthanded marker secured the win and sweep for the Huskies.

With Omaha idle this weekend, the Sun Devils remain in 8th place in the NCHC standings. Colorado College remains in striking distance for the Sun Devils after gaining only one point in the Gold Pan Series with Denver, but with Omaha right on the Devils' heels, the chances of making the NCHC tournament appear to be on life support with six games remaining.

Arizona State will hit the road next weekend for a difficult series against defending champion Western Michigan on February 13-14 before returning to Mullett for the home finale against Omaha on February 20-21.