No. 12 Arizona State took three out of four possible standings points against new conference foe No. 6 Denver over the weekend, keeping pace with NCHC leaders No. 3 Western Michigan. The Sun Devils ended up defeating the defending national champion Pioneers in three of four total meetings this season.
ASU avenged an overtime loss from Friday with a 6-5 victory in the extra period on Saturday. Forward Bennett Schimek sliced through the Denver defense to slide home the game-winning goal with roughly half the overtime period left.
It's not easy defeating a defending national champion program let alone doing it three times in a single season. The fact that ASU has been able to keep up with some of the nation's top programs bodes well for the team's NCAA Tournament hopes.
Schimek shines with the OT game-winner for @SunDevilHockey! ✨@bennett_schimek // #NCHCTopPlay#NCHChockey // #BeTheTradition pic.twitter.com/V8i5s7YD80
— The NCHC (@TheNCHC) February 9, 2025
ASU can compete with the best as it enters home stretch of regular season
Entering year one as a member of the NCHC, fans probably would've expected the program to just try and keep up with the gathering of elite teams but ASU has defied expectations. The Devils now have eight wins against ranked opponents (including a sweep over then-No. 1 Denver) and earned points in at least two other games.
Despite a rough start to the season, poll voters recognized ASU's quality and potential as it quickly shot up the rankings over the previous two months. With six regular season games remaining, the Devils must continue to play strong and win out if it wants to secure a top 16 spot (usually good enough to earn a bid in the postseason).
ASU will still be one of the favorites entering the NCHC tournament, potentially as the No. 2 seed if it doesn't win the regular season conference title outright, but winning that would earn it an auto-bid. It would be the program's second-ever appearance and the first since 2019 when it was an NCAA independent.
Fans have a lot to be excited about as the season wraps up. ASU looks promising and could be a serious challenger to win its first-ever NCAA Tournament game.