TEMPE, Ariz. – Sun Devil Hockey wraps up their final home series of the 2017-18 season with a blockbuster match-up against one of the most decorated programs in college hockey, Boston University. Both games will be streamed for free via Facebook Live on the Sun Devil Hockey and Pac-12 pages, as well as Pac-12.com/live.
It's only fitting that the first-ever match-up with the Terriers (11-11-2) on Friday night will be played on the big stage at Gila River Arena at 7:05 p.m., followed by Senior Night on Saturday at Oceanside Ice Arena at 7:05 p.m. Tickets are still available for Friday night's game on Ticketmaster.com here.
"It has been a very exciting home slate all year for Sun Devil Hockey fans and to cap it all off with having arguably the best all-around college hockey program in Tempe is very exciting for our young program and our fan base," said head coach Greg Powers. "We can't thank our fans enough for their support and hope they'll come out loud and proud in support of our hard working team this weekend vs. BU."
ASU (7-14-5) is coming off of a tie and loss to Quinnipiac at home, moving their record in 2018 to 3-2-1. There's been no lack of scoring over the last six games, as the Sun Devils are averaging just over a three goal-per-game tick.
Sophomore defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk and freshman forward Johnny Walker have been big contributors to that scoring as of late. Pasichnuk continues to pace the team in overall scoring with 19 points. He's currently riding a three-game point streak with two multi-assist games during that stretch. Over the last six games, he's totaled 10 points with three goals and seven assists. Four of those games were multi-point performances as well.
Walker is also on a three-game point streak with three goals and an assist. Over the last six games, the freshman is also averaging a point-per-game with four goals and two assists. He leads the team in goals scored with eight this season, which is just one short of the ASU record for goals scored by a freshman in a season set by sophomore Tyler Busch last season.
On special teams, the Sun Devil penalty kill entered the Quinnipiac series last weekend with the 11th-best average in the country. After the Bobcats capitalized on three of four man advantages on Saturday, ASU slid 11 spots to 22nd at 82.1%. They had killed 25 of the last 28 penalties entering Saturday night, and will need to stay out of the box or rekindle that success against a team like BU to succeed this weekend.
The power play for ASU has struggled this season, but has shown flashes of success as of late. The Devils have recorded a power-play tally in each of the last three games, becoming their longest stretch of the season and longest since a four-game streak in early 2017.
The high-powered Terrier offense rolls in to Arizona with three players boasting 20-plus points on the season, and two with double-digit goals scored.
After starting the season as No. 2 in the preseason polls, BU is currently receiving votes outside of the top-20, as they went through a 12-game stretch with just four wins in the middle of the season. Over the last six games, they're 4-1-1 and attempting to go on a run to get back into tournament contention.
BU's roster features 12 NHL draft picks – the second-most on any college hockey roster next to Minnesota – and several with Arizona ties, including two Arizona Coyotes' draft picks in defensemen Brandon Hickey and Cam Crotty. They also feature the son of former Coyote and Ring of Honor member Keith Tkachuk, Brady Tkachuk.
Junior forward Bobo Carpenter, who is undrafted, leads the team in scoring with 13 goals and 23 points this season. Six of his 13 tallies have come on the power play, which ranks 14th in the country.
The Terriers are averaging an even three goals-per-game this season, while allowing 2.83.
Dallas Stars' first round draft pick and Team USA Junior National goaltender Jake Oettinger is a big part of that with a .907 save percentage and 2.74 goals against average.
Both games will be streamed for free via Facebook Live on the Sun Devil Hockey and Pac-12 pages, as well as Pac-12.com/live.
It's only fitting that the first-ever match-up with the Terriers (11-11-2) on Friday night will be played on the big stage at Gila River Arena at 7:05 p.m., followed by Senior Night on Saturday at Oceanside Ice Arena at 7:05 p.m. Tickets are still available for Friday night's game on Ticketmaster.com here.
"It has been a very exciting home slate all year for Sun Devil Hockey fans and to cap it all off with having arguably the best all-around college hockey program in Tempe is very exciting for our young program and our fan base," said head coach Greg Powers. "We can't thank our fans enough for their support and hope they'll come out loud and proud in support of our hard working team this weekend vs. BU."
ASU (7-14-5) is coming off of a tie and loss to Quinnipiac at home, moving their record in 2018 to 3-2-1. There's been no lack of scoring over the last six games, as the Sun Devils are averaging just over a three goal-per-game tick.
Sophomore defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk and freshman forward Johnny Walker have been big contributors to that scoring as of late. Pasichnuk continues to pace the team in overall scoring with 19 points. He's currently riding a three-game point streak with two multi-assist games during that stretch. Over the last six games, he's totaled 10 points with three goals and seven assists. Four of those games were multi-point performances as well.
Walker is also on a three-game point streak with three goals and an assist. Over the last six games, the freshman is also averaging a point-per-game with four goals and two assists. He leads the team in goals scored with eight this season, which is just one short of the ASU record for goals scored by a freshman in a season set by sophomore Tyler Busch last season.
On special teams, the Sun Devil penalty kill entered the Quinnipiac series last weekend with the 11th-best average in the country. After the Bobcats capitalized on three of four man advantages on Saturday, ASU slid 11 spots to 22nd at 82.1%. They had killed 25 of the last 28 penalties entering Saturday night, and will need to stay out of the box or rekindle that success against a team like BU to succeed this weekend.
The power play for ASU has struggled this season, but has shown flashes of success as of late. The Devils have recorded a power-play tally in each of the last three games, becoming their longest stretch of the season and longest since a four-game streak in early 2017.
The high-powered Terrier offense rolls in to Arizona with three players boasting 20-plus points on the season, and two with double-digit goals scored.
After starting the season as No. 2 in the preseason polls, BU is currently receiving votes outside of the top-20, as they went through a 12-game stretch with just four wins in the middle of the season. Over the last six games, they're 4-1-1 and attempting to go on a run to get back into tournament contention.
BU's roster features 12 NHL draft picks – the second-most on any college hockey roster next to Minnesota – and several with Arizona ties, including two Arizona Coyotes' draft picks in defensemen Brandon Hickey and Cam Crotty. They also feature the son of former Coyote and Ring of Honor member Keith Tkachuk, Brady Tkachuk.
Junior forward Bobo Carpenter, who is undrafted, leads the team in scoring with 13 goals and 23 points this season. Six of his 13 tallies have come on the power play, which ranks 14th in the country.
The Terriers are averaging an even three goals-per-game this season, while allowing 2.83.
Dallas Stars' first round draft pick and Team USA Junior National goaltender Jake Oettinger is a big part of that with a .907 save percentage and 2.74 goals against average.
Both games will be streamed for free via Facebook Live on the Sun Devil Hockey and Pac-12 pages, as well as Pac-12.com/live.