After Friday night’s loss to the Omaha Mavericks in near last-minute fashion, the focus for the Arizona State Sun Devils was winning their first home game in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC).
Arizona State senior goalie Luke Pavicich’s 20 saves in the game evened his season goals against average (GAA) with redshirt junior goalie Gibson Homer to a 2.35 GAA. The UMass Lowell transfer paved the way to victory in the Sun Devils’ 3-2 win over the Mavericks.
“I thought Pav was really good,” Arizona State coach Greg Powers said. “He was calm and made a huge save in a flurry in the second period and got the win.”
Sun Devil graduate student forward Artem Shlaine broke the ice at 13:36 of the first period. Originally, the lone assist was credited to junior forward Bennett Schimek, but was later changed to sophomore forward Kyle Smolen. The right-handed shot picked up his fourth assist of the season and the secondary assist was credited to junior forward Ryan Alexander. The Canadian recorded his first assist and second point of the season, making the score 1-0 in favor of the Sun Devils.
The final thirteen and a half minutes of the first period ended with little to no action on the scorecard with the Sun Devils leading in shots 14-4. Omaha began the second period on a power play after graduate student forward Ty Jackson was caught hooking at 1:12.
The Mavericks’ power play wasted away after the start of the second period.
Omaha graduate student forward Harrison Israels fed the puck across the zone to trailing graduate student forward Sam Stange for his second goal of the series. His marker knotted the game at 2-2 with 16:12 remaining in the second period.
Arizona State’s Alexander added his second point of the night on a goal just over four minutes later on a rebound off Omaha freshman goalie Kevin Reidler’s pads. Sophomore defenseman Anthony Dowd put the puck on the net from just outside the slot on the stick side half-wall. Smolen tallied his second point of the night on the secondary assist with his pass to Dowd to set up the opportunity. The scoreboard read a 2-1 Sun Devils’ lead with 12:28 to play in the middle period.
After several more penalties, killed by both sides, the second period closed with a 2-1 Arizona State lead. ASU added 16 shots to its total and Omaha added only 11 shots, locking the shot total at 30-15 in favor of Arizona State.
Sun Devil sophomore forward David Hymovitch potted the game-winning goal at 1:18 into the third period. The Scottsdale, Arizona native’s second goal of the season was assisted by senior forward Ryan Kirwan and graduate student forward Ty Jackson. Hymovitch’s goal improved ASU’s lead to 3-1.
Omaha cut into the two-goal lead 11 minutes later thanks to freshman defenseman Marcus Broberg’s first goal of the season. Assists went to graduate student forward Brady Risk and Stange.
The Sun Devils fended off the Mavericks for the last 12 minutes of regulation to pick up their fourth win of the season.
Arizona State, now holding a 4-7-1 record (1-3 in NCHC play), is preparing for a two-game series against the defending national champions, the University of Denver, next weekend in Colorado.
“We prepare every week (with the) same intensity for every team,” senior defenseman Ty Murchison said. “Obviously, they’re a well respected opponent and we’re looking forward to playing them.”
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