No. 11 Sun Devil hockey carried its No. 2 seed in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) into the Frozen Faceoff semifinals at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, facing No. 3 seed and No. 6 Denver Pioneers. The two teams have faced off four times previously this season, with Arizona State winning three of four meetings.
However, Saturday night was different. Pioneer graduate student forward Connor Caponi buried an empty-net goal to put Denver up 4-2 and seal the victory for his side, ending the ASU’s season.
The Pioneers wasted no time getting on the board when sophomore defenseman Boston Buckberger floated a shot from the left point that Sun Devil senior goaltender Luke Pavicich never saw.
Although ASU head coach Greg Powers said afterward that he liked his team’s jump in the first five minutes, there seemed to be a lot of nervous energy. The younger members on the blue line made some uncharacteristic errors, leading to chances for Denver.
The Sun Devils slowly got their legs under them, creating chances through the middle portion of the period including a breakaway for graduate student forward Dylan Jackson who was denied on the backhand shot by Denver senior goalie Matt Davis. ASU sophomore forward Cole Gordon took a holding penalty, giving the nation’s best power play (most power-play goals in the country) a chance to go to work for the Pioneers.
On the man advantage, Denver sophomore forward Sam Harris was on the doorstep to clean up a rebound and slide it under the five-hole of Pavicich. Earlier in the play, ASU graduate forward Artem Shlaine blocked a shot with his foot and got up gingerly. Shlaine missed the rest of the first and didn’t return to the bench until midway through the second period.
“We felt like we played pretty well in that period, we just didn’t capitalize on our opportunities,” Powers said.
The Sun Devils needed a big answer in the middle frame and finally did on the power play, 12 minutes into the period. ASU graduate forward Lukas Sillinger tried to send a pass from the left-wing faceoff circle across the ice before it hit a skate, went off the pad of Davis and bounced right to Arizona State senior forward Ryan Kirwan who buried it from the low slot. The Sun Devils cut the Pioneers’ lead in half.
Nine minutes later, Shlaine took advantage of an unfortunate error from Buckberger and backhanded one by Davis to tie the game. The Pioneers continued to pepper Pavicich who was getting sharper as the game went on.
When the teams began the third period, there was a tense feeling to the game, with both teams being passive in their attacks. An unfortunate error at the ASU blue line sent Denver senior forward Carter King and junior Aidan Thompson on a two-on-one rush. King sent a pass to the back-left post, and Thompson one-timed it into the back of the net to break the tie.
Arizona State, at its most desperate, continued to press down the stretch, but Davis looked every bit like the goaltender who backstopped the Pioneers to a national championship title.
“Credit to him (Davis), he was outstanding tonight, that’s what he does at this time of the year,” Powers said.
With the goalie pulled in the final minutes, the Pioneers pressured the Sun Devils at the left point and the puck exited the zone and landed on the stick of Caponi who put the finishing touches on the victory.
With the loss, it’s all but confirmed that the season is over for ASU, and that means that nine players on that ice will not be coming back in the fall.
“It was unbelievable how the guys took us in, I’d recommend this place to anyone,” Shlaine said.
Senior defenseman Ty Murchison was one of those players tonight playing their final game as a Sun Devil.
“This is home for me, I can’t even express how much this place means to me and what an amazing job Greg (Powers) has done with these teams,” Murchison said.
After the teams shook hands, Shlaine was the last one to leave the ice after hugging all of his teammates.
“It’s the last time I’m going to put on an Arizona State jersey, it’s my last college hockey game, I just wanted to take it all in,” Shlaine said.
In their first year in the NCHC, the Sun Devils not only accomplished their goal of hosting a quarterfinal round series but secured second in the conference’s standings. ASU didn’t lose to any of the teams in the Frozen Faceoff in regulation and strung together some unbelievable moments at Mullett Arena in the process.
Powers’ parting words to his team after the game were simple.
“I told them I am proud of them and that I love them.”
As the conference tournaments wrap up, the college hockey season is in its final stages, with the NCAA tournament weeks away. Next up for Sun Devil hockey will be tracking recruits and transfers as they look to build on another 20-win season and prove that hockey belongs in the desert.
Leave a Reply