An epic collapse in the second period from the No. 16 Arizona State Sun Devils (7-2-1) led to a painful 8-4 loss against the No.2 Denver Pioneers (7-2-1) Saturday night. It was ASU’s first home loss of the season, despite leading 3-0 early on.
“I think we feel like we deserved a better fate than we got,” ASU coach Greg Powers said.
The Sun Devils shocked the college hockey world the night before, handing the Pioneers a 6-5 loss in overtime and just their second loss of the season. Denver returned the favor handing ASU their second loss of the season and earning the split.
“It’s a hard-earned split with arguably the best team in the country, and it stings because of the nature of how we lost blowing a three-goal lead,” Powers said. “It’s our first regulation loss in our first ten games.”
ASU came out strong in the first period of Saturday’s contest, maintaining the momentum and confidence they earned after the overtime win on Friday.
The Sun Devils earned their first power play 5:45 into the game. Senior forward Lukas Sillinger ripped one from the top of the circle past Denver goaltender Freddie Halyk to give ASU the early 1-0 lead. Senior defenseman Tim Lovell and sophomore winger Charlie Schoen each picked up a helper. The Devils went 2/4 on the power play throughout the night.
ASU was buzzing, and Denver looked stunned not being able to generate anything offensively. The Sun Devils’ electric intensity carried on as Lovell scored just 51 seconds later to double their lead. Senior forward Ty Jackson picked up his fourth point of the series and graduate defenseman Brandon Tabakin collected his second.
“It was a great start,” Powers said. “We were in complete control.”
Control of the game continued for the Sun Devils as they secured a three-goal lead 5:59 into the second period. Senior forward Matthew Kopperud chipped a puck off the boards sending Captain Tyler Gratton in on a breakaway. Gratton slid the puck through Halyk’s five-hole scoring his second goal in two games and extending his goal streak to four games.
Exactly one minute later, it was Pioneers Captain Mckade Webster’s turn to pot one in the back of the net, cutting the Sun Devils’ lead to two and Denver took control from there.
The Pioneers started to get back to playing with a higher level of severity and urgency, proving their No. 2 national ranking. Their offensive game turned on a dime and they began to generate chances left, right and center.
Denver forward and 2022 third-round Arizona Coyotes draft pick Miko Matikka showed shades of Ovechkin unloading a one-timer from the dot past junior goaltender TJ Semptimphelter to bring the Pioneers within one.
55 seconds later, Denver found themselves on the scoreboard once again. This time it was forward Jack Devine tying things up at three a piece. The 2022 seventh-round draft pick of the Florida Panthers did not stop there as he scored his second of the game, converting on the powerplay just over four minutes later to give the Pioneers their first lead of the game.
“We didn’t see that coming we didn’t feel it coming, you make one mistake with the puck bringing it back into your zone when you don’t have to and then giving it away through the middle they’re gonna make you pay, and they did,” Powers said.
Semptimphelter gave up four goals on eight shots in the second period. He finished the game with 20 saves posting a .769 save percentage.
“The kids great, he’s a great goalie he’s been great for us, tonight he was not,” Powers said. “Nobody feels probably worse than him, he wants a few of those back.”
It was a period filled with miscommunication, missed assignments in the defensive zone and mismanagement of the puck that the Sun Devils would have liked to have back.
It didn’t take long for the Pioneers to increase their lead as forward Jared Wright redirected a shot pass from forward Carter King 3:39 into the third period giving Denver their fifth goal in a row and a 5-3 lead.
Halfway through the third, the Sun Devils scored on the powerplay to stop the bleeding. Sillinger fed Kopperud in his wheelhouse and it was the lethal one-timer that we have seen from him all season long that did the job. Lovell recorded the secondary assist picking up his third point of the night.
With 2:30 left on the clock, the Sun Devils pulled Semptimphelter for the extra-attacker in a desperate attempt to try and even things up.
Denver scored twice on the empty net. Calgary, Alberta natives King and forward Rieger Lorenz tallied one each making it 7-4 Pioneers.
A disappointing ending for the Sun Devils got even worse as Semptimphelter went back in and gave up one more with seven seconds left courtesy of Denver defenseman Boston Buckberger.
Despite the loss, the Sun Devils put forth an impressive performance as they managed to earn a split against one of the best teams in college hockey this season.
ASU will look to get back to dominating at home as they welcome Alaska Anchorage (5-6-1) to Mullett Arena on November 17 and 19.
“We have a good team in Anchorage coming in, they are much improved,” Powers said. “They are going to come in and compete.”
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