A three-goal second period propelled the No. 11 Arizona State Sun Devils (14-8-1) to their third consecutive victory, with a 4-1 win over the No. 19 Colorado College Tigers (11-11-1) on Friday night at Mullett Arena.
Consistency has been the key to the Sun Devils’ being winners in 11 of their last 12 games. A group that was severely depleted to start the season is now coming together. The depth ASU possesses was on full display to remain at the top of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC).
“We’re taking it one at a time…we want to stay in first place, we want to win the league,” Arizona State coach Greg Powers said. “We think we have the team that’s good enough to win this league, and for us, it’s all about just keeping our foot on the gas and not letting anybody catch us.”
Well, that’s exactly what ASU did. They kept their foot on the gas despite having difficulty generating much in the first period. Although it took a while to produce quality chances, they didn’t give up anything on the other end. It was only a matter of time before the Sun Devils found the back of the net.
“We just stuck with it, we stuck with what we are and what our identity is and what our standard is,” Powers said. “We didn’t push and get out of our seeds…we stayed patient, we managed pucks through the first two periods pretty well…we believe in what we have and we believe in how we’re playing.”
ASU sophomore forward Cole Gordon finally broke through with 8:49 remaining in the second period on a second-chance opportunity right in front of the net to give the Sun Devils a 1-0 lead.
Arizona State didn’t wait too long before doubling its lead, only this time it came shorthanded. Senior defenseman Ethan Szmagaj finished off a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play for his first goal of the season.
“It was awesome. He was great tonight,” said Powers of his team’s captain. “He’s been a great teammate…he stuck with it, he was one of our best D tonight, really proud of him.”
However, The second-period frenzy for the Sun Devils didn’t end there: With six seconds remaining, the Jackson twin’s magic increased ASU’s lead to three. Graduate student forward Ty Jackson served one up for his brother, graduate student forward Dylan Jackson, who one-timed it into the goal from the right-wing faceoff circle. It was Dylan’s sixth goal of the season.
Arizona State’s specials teams cashed in a power-play goal too. Graduate student forward Artem Shlaine collected his second assist of the game, finding an open sophomore forward Kyle Smolen, who was parked right in front of the crease.
That would be the end of the night for Tigers’ junior goaltender Kaidan Mbereko, who was pulled about two minutes after ASU’s fourth goal.
Colorado College finally got on the board halfway through the third period. Freshman forward Owen Beckner beat Sun Devil senior goaltender Luke Pavicich. He ended the night by stopping 24 of 25 shots for a .960 save percentage.
“He was steady…he saw a couple of nice Grade “A” chances there in the second and made some big saves,” Powers said of Pavicich. “We got two goalies who are kicking, two goalies that are winning goalies, two goalies that the guys believe in.”
Once projected to finish near the bottom of the NCHC, Arizona State continues to turn heads. Now with eight wins in its last nine conference games, including a sweep over the No. 1 Denver Pioneers, the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs and the No. 15 Saint Cloud State Huskies over the past two months.
“We’re not to be looked over, our squad is deep and we’re ready to play every game so it’s just building momentum every game,” Szmagaj said.
The Sun Devils will look to continue to build that momentum in the series finale against the Tigers. Puck drop for is set for 5 p.m. MST in Tempe on Jan. 25.
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