Usually, when a team controls the play for a majority of the game and gets the puck to the net 43 times, they come out on top. That wasn’t the case for the Arizona State Sun Devils (3-7-1) as they fell 4-2 to the Omaha Mavericks (3-6-0) in their first National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) home game. ASU is still searching for its first win at Mullett Arena this season.
Getting swept by Colorado College last weekend and losing to Omaha tonight, the Sun Devils are 0-3 in conference play despite feeling like that record doesn’t accurately show how they have been playing.
“All three we felt like we did (have the edge),” ASU coach Greg Powers said. “We probably should be 3-0 but you know what they say about close.”
Regardless of what their record shows, the Sun Devils have proved one thing. They can compete in one of the best conferences in college hockey, even with the number of injuries they have had to deal with so far this season.
“You guys know all the guys we have out, I think it’s pretty impressive with how we are playing with so many go-to guys out. It’s hard in life not to be results-focused,” Powers said.
The Sun Devils came ready to play right from the start. They played with pace, possessed the puck, got to work in the offensive zone, and had a majority of the quality looks.
Omaha junior goaltender Simon Latkoczy made his first big stop, robbing sophomore forward Kyle Smolen on a 2-on-1. That was just the beginning of an unreal performance from Latkoczy as he went on to steal three to four sure goals from the Sun Devils and stop 41 of 43 shots, finishing with a .953 save percentage.
“Hats off to the goalie, the kid was lights out,” Powers said. “It’s been really the story of these first 11 games is the goaltending that we have ran into has been really, really, really good.”
The Sun Devils carried the play for almost the entire first period and were unable to find the back of the net; the Mavericks were able to capitalize on their first grade-A chance of the evening. Freshman forward Chase LaPinta trailed into the zone undetected before letting go a one-timer right in the slot to give the Mavericks a 1-0 lead with 2:07 remaining in the first period.
It was much of the same for the Sun Devils in the second period as that high-tempo, first-to-the-puck mentality continued. ASU continued to play in the offensive zone generating chance after chance, peppering the Omaha goaltender.
“We’re getting shots through but just gotta be a little grittier a little harder out front,” senior captain defenseman Ethan Szmagaj said. “Our puck luck isn’t going the way we want it to.”
5:58 into the second period, graduate student forward Ty Jackson found the back of the net, tying the game up at one. Senior forward Ryan Kirwan found Jackson on the back door for an easy tap-in, which Jackson initially hit the far post on. It was the second chance opportunity that Jackson swatted in one-handed.
A strong push by the Mavericks late in the second allowed them to spend more time in the offensive zone than they had all game. They had the Sun Devils hemmed in their zone for a few minutes, which led to graduate defenseman Noah Beck heading to the penalty box for interference.
Seconds into the Mavericks’ third power play of the game, sophomore forward Charlie Lurie unloaded one from the point to give Omaha a 2-1 lead heading into the third.
The Sun Devils continued to do what they had been doing all game. They were dominating the Mavericks in every facet of the game except what counted, the scoreboard.
“We were really taking it to them, the ice was tilted,” Powers said. “When you’re outplaying your opposition, out chancing them, outshooting them, you know you’re 56 percent on the face-off dot tonight, and you’re not getting a result it’s tough.”
After failing to capitalize on their first two power plays, the Sun Devils were given their third opportunity 3:44 into the third period. Five seconds into the man advantage, graduate forward Lukas Sillinger sent a cross-ice pass over to sophomore defenseman Anthony Dowd, who netted a wrist shot top shelf, giving the Sun Devils their second goal of the game.
With just over three minutes left in the third period, the Mavericks generated their first quality look off the rush and that’s all it took for them to take a 3-2 lead. Graduate student forward and the Detroit Red Wings’ 2020 fourth-round pick Sam Stange, skated down the slot and ripped one past ASU senior goaltender Luke Pavicich.
It was a game for the Sun Devils where they couldn’t solve a very hot goaltender while at the same time, their opponent was able to capitalize on most of their high-danger opportunities, which weren’t many.
“We outshot them 18-5 in the third, I think their only scoring chance was the goal they went ahead on. We played well, at the end of the day our guys have to figure out how to win games — it’s that simple,” Powers said. “It’s the really egregious mistakes that we are making that are ending up in the back of our net. Until we stop making them while we are not scoring this is going to keep happening.”
The Sun Devils are going to want to come out with the same type of energy on Saturday, Nov. 16, as they look to earn a split against the Mavericks and collect their first win in NCHC play. The puck drop is set for 5 p.m. MST in Tempe.
“(Hopefully) more pucks go in, but I think we know what we did wrong kind off to reset, come fresh tomorrow and play as a team and get those pucks through,” Szmagaj said.
Leave a Reply